Wheeled Vehicle Adaptive Speed Control Method and System

ABSTRACT

Disclosed is a vehicle that may include a frame to support a power system, such as an engine, and one or more surface supports, such as wheels, to support the frame. The engine may include an internal combustion engine and a fuel supply system therefore. The engine may provide power to drive the wheels.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application is a continuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No.17/194,091 filed Mar. 5, 2021, which is a continuation-in-part of U.S.patent application Ser. No. 17/269,789, filed Feb. 19, 2021, which is aNational Stage of PCT International Application No. PCT/US2019/047046designating the United States filed on Aug. 19, 2019, which claimed thebenefit of U.S. Provisional Application No. 62/765,321, filed on Aug.20, 2018. The entire disclosure(s) of (each of) the above application(s)is (are) incorporated herein by reference.

This application includes subject matter related to that disclosed inU.S. patent application Ser. No. 17/269,827 (Attorney Docket No.6136-000348-NP), filed Feb. 19, 2021. The entire disclosure(s) of (eachof) the above application(s) is (are) incorporated herein by reference.

FIELD

The present disclosure relates to a vehicle, and particularly to awheeled vehicle, especially a wheeled vehicle with less than fourwheels, and operational components therefore.

BACKGROUND

This section provides background information related to the presentdisclosure which is not necessarily prior art.

A vehicle to move a payload, such as an operator or rider, includes apower plant, such as an engine. The vehicle may include variouscontrols, such as a throttle and brake systems. The control systems aregenerally operated manually by the operator. The vehicle may include atwo-wheeled vehicle that is generally substantially manually operated.

SUMMARY

This section provides a general summary of the disclosure, and is not acomprehensive disclosure of its full scope or all of its features.

Disclosed herein is a powered wheeled assembly including a motorcycleassembly for operation by rider, also referred to as a user. The ridermay operate the motorcycle to travel along an intended path on asurface. The surface may include a road surface which may be shared withother objects, such as other motorcycles or other vehicles such as 4wheel vehicles.

In various embodiments the motorcycle 10 may include one or more sensorsto sense an environment exterior to the motorcycle 10. For examplevarious ranging assemblies such as radar assemblies, laser ranging(lidar) assemblies, or the like may be used to measure distances toexterior objects, speed or change in speed of exterior objects,positions of exterior objects, or the like. Based upon the sensedobjects the various systems of the motorcycle may be automaticallyoperated and/or changed to provide information to the rider, informationto operators of the exterior vehicles, or the like.

The motorcycle may further include notification that may be provided tooperators external to the motorcycle. For example visual notifications,such as flashing lights, may be provided to exterior vehicle operators.Auditory notifications may also be provided, such as from a motorcyclehorn, speaker, etc. Various signals may also be sent to selectedvehicles, such as with a generally available communication to a selectedvehicle to alert a driver and/or autonomous driver system of thepresence of the vehicle. The notifications may be provided based uponautomatic determinations due to sensed positions, speeds, or the like ofvehicles relative to the motorcycle.

Further the motorcycle may include a constant speed or cruise control.The cruise control may be operated automatically or with input fromvarious sensors on the motorcycle. The sensors may operate to determinepositions of the motorcycle relative to other vehicles, such as othermotorcycles and/or other non-motorcycle vehicles. The cruise control maybe operated substantially without further rider input to maintain aselected or predetermined distance between the motorcycle or otherobjects.

The two-wheeled vehicle, as disclosed herein, may provide automaticfeedback and/or notifications to the rider and external operatorsregarding the presence of the two-wheeled vehicle and/or position andspeed of external vehicles. The notifications may assist in providingawareness to the rider of the external vehicles and vice-versa. Further,sensor inputs may allow for automatic operation of various controls ofthe two-wheeled vehicle.

Further areas of applicability will become apparent from the descriptionprovided herein. The description and specific examples in this summaryare intended for purposes of illustration only and are not intended tolimit the scope of the present disclosure.

DRAWINGS

The drawings described herein are for illustrative purposes only ofselected embodiments and not all possible implementations, and are notintended to limit the scope of the present disclosure.

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a motorcycle, according to variousembodiments;

FIG. 2 is a view of the fairing assembly from a position of a rider;

FIG. 3 is a schematic view of a position of a camera system mounted on amotorcycle;

FIG. 4 is a top plan view of the motorcycle and various sensorsassociated therewith;

FIG. 5 is a detailed view of a motorcycle and a sensor assembly;

FIGS. 6A and 6B are detailed interior views of a mounting position ofthe sensor assembly;

FIG. 7A is a flowchart for operation of a display of the motorcycle;

FIG. 7B is a flowchart for operation of a display of the motorcycle;

FIG. 8A and FIG. 8B are detailed schematic illustrations of a mountingassembly for a forward facing sensor assembly;

FIG. 9 is a top plan view of a seating assembly of a motorcycle;

FIG. 9A is a Table 2 including input criteria for a notification system;

FIG. 10 is a flowchart for an external driver notification;

FIG. 11A, FIG. 11B, and FIG. 11C are partial view of a motorcycle withlean sensors;

FIG. 12A is a schematic illustration of a motorcycle following a vehicleon a straight path;

FIG. 12B is a top schematic illustration of a motorcycle following avehicle on a curved path;

FIG. 12C is a side schematic illustration of a motorcycle following avehicle on a curved path;

FIG. 13 is a schematic illustration of an actuation assembly formovement of a sensor assembly;

FIG. 14 is a plan schematic view of a motorcycle riding configuration ona straight path;

FIG. 15 is an illustration of a riding configuration of a plurality ofmotorcycles on a curved path;

FIG. 16A and FIG. 16B is a flowchart for operation of an adaptive cruisecontrol;

FIG. 17 is a flowchart of an optional logical/method application of theadaptive cruise control;

FIG. 18A is a detail view of a motorcycle fairing and instrumentcluster, according to various embodiments;

FIG. 18B is a detail view of a display, according to variousembodiments;

FIG. 19A is a perspective view of a motorcycle having an instrumentcluster, according to various embodiments;

FIG. 19B is a detail view of an instrument cluster with a display,according to various embodiments;

FIG. 20 is a detail view of a display, according to various embodiments;

FIG. 21 is a detail view of a display, according to various embodiments;

FIGS. 22A and 22B is a flowchart of an optional logical/methodapplication of the adaptive cruise control, according to variousembodiments; and

FIG. 23 is a flowchart of an optional logical/method application of theadaptive cruise control and/or alert system, according to variousembodiments.

Corresponding reference numerals indicate corresponding parts throughoutthe several views of the drawings.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Example embodiments will now be described more fully with reference tothe accompanying drawings.

With initial reference to FIG. 1 , a vehicle is exemplarily illustrated.The vehicle may include a two wheeled vehicle, which may generally bereferred to as a motorcycle 10. The motorcycle 10 may be any appropriatemotorcycle, such as the Chieftain® motorcycle or the Roadmaster®motorcycle, both sold by Indian Motorcycle International, LLC having aplace of business in Medina, Minnesota. In various embodiments, themotorcycle or vehicle may be similar to the vehicle disclosed in U.S.Patent App. Publication 2016/0298807. Other selected motorcycle wheeledvehicles may include those with two-wheels or three-wheels and may alsobe referred to as a motorcycle, such as an autocycle, Freewheeler®tri-cycle motorcycle sold by H-D U.S.A. LLC, Spyder three-wheeledvehicle sold by Can-Am Bombardier Recreational Products Inc., or theSlingshot® three-wheeled vehicle sold by Polaris Inc. having a place ofbusiness in Minnesota.

Generally, the motorcycle 10 includes a first or front wheel assembly 12and a second or rear wheel assembly 14. Both of the wheels 12, 14 may beprovided as wheel assemblies that include a tire, rim, and othergenerally know components. The wheels 12, 14 may engage or roll on aroad surface or ground or other appropriate surface during operation ofthe motorcycle 10 and may rotate relative to a frame assembly orstructure 16. It is understood that the frame assembly 16 may includevarious components, including metal tubing, a power system, which mayinclude an engine 40, and/or connections to the engine, and similarcomponents that are connected to other components. The frame assembly 16may have a front portion to which the front wheel assembly 12 isconnected and the rear portion to which a rear wheel assembly 14 isconnected.

The motorcycle 10, or vehicle, may include only the two wheel assemblies12, 14. The motorcycle 10, therefore, may be only a two wheeled vehicle.In various embodiments, the vehicle 10 may be only single wheel driven,such as only driven by the rear wheel assembly 14. Thus, the motorcycle10 may include only two wheels and be only rear wheel driven.

Additional components connected to the frame assembly 16 may includesuspension components 18, which may include a fork assembly havingsprings therein, and a handlebar 24. Further, a fairing components 20may be connected to the frame assembly 16, and may be moveable or fixedrelative to the frame 16. Further, the frame 16 may support a seat orseat assembly 28 that may be used by an operator to sit on the vehicle10 during operation.

The frame 16 may hold or support an engine 40. The engine 40 may includevarious components, such as those discussed further herein, and be apart of a powertrain assembly 42, which may further include transmissioncomponents or assembly 44. It is understood that various othercomponents may be incorporated into the vehicle 10, such as thosegenerally understood in the art, to allow operation of the vehicle 10 bya user, also referred to as an operator. The user may operate thevehicle, such as control the engine 40, for transferring power from theengine 40 to one or more of the wheels, such as the rear wheel 14assembly, through the transmission 44.

In various embodiments the engine 40 may include an engine such as aThunderstroke® engine sold by Indian Motorcycle International, LLChaving a place of business in Medina, Minnesota. The engine 40 mayinclude a spark ignition engine, where a spark ignites a petroleumproduct, such as gasoline, to move pistons. The gasoline, or otherappropriate fuel, may be held first in a fuel tank 50 for delivery tothe engine 40. Air may be used in combusting of the fuel and initiallyenters the engine assembly by an air intake 52. A throttle control 54may be operated (e.g. twisted) by the operator to control a throttlebody associated with the engine 40. In various embodiments, however, themotorcycle may be powered by a motor, such as an electric motor, ratherthan the engine 40. Thus, it is understood, that the motorcycle 10disclosed herein may be powered with any appropriate system.

The motorcycle 10 may further include brake assemblies, such as a frontdisk brake assembly 60 associated with the front wheel assembly 12. Itis understood by those skilled in the art that the rear wheel assemblymay include a rear disk brake assembly. The rear brake assembly may becovered by various components of the motorcycle 10, such as saddlebags140. The brake assemblies may be manually operated by the operator bybrake controls. In various embodiments, a handle lever 66 may beactuated (e.g. squeezed toward a grip 68) to actuated the front brakeassembly 60.

The front brake assembly 60 may include a brake disc 70 and a brakecaliper assembly 72. As is understood in the art, the disc 70 isconnected to a rim 12 r of the wheel assembly 12. The brake caliperassembly 72 is fixed relative to the disc 70, such as to a portion ofthe suspension assembly 18. The brake caliper assembly 72 may beoperated to squeeze the disk 70 to slow and/or stop rotation of thewheel assembly 12. A similar process may operate to slow the rear wheelassembly. The brake assemblies, such as the front brake assembly 60,however, may also use an alternative braking apparatus. For example,drum brakes or other braking systems may be used. Further, operation ofthe braking systems may be in any appropriate manner such as with amechanical cable, a hydraulic braking system, or the like.

Operation of the engine 40, such as to create acceleration ordeceleration of the engine may be performed independently and/orcooperatively with the braking system. For example, as noted above, thethrottle 54 may be operated to increase the engine speed. An increase inengine speed may cause an increase in the vehicle speed of themotorcycle 10. In various embodiments, an engine control unit (ECU) 272may control the engine 40 based on inputs from the rider 200 (FIG. 4 ).The ECU 272 and various controls, such as the fuel injectors, may bepowered by a battery 90. It is further understood that various gearselections in the transmission assembly 44 may also operate to alter orchange the engine speed of the engine 40 and/or speed of the motorcycle10. As discussed further herein the various components, such as thebrake assemblies and engine speed control assemblies may be used toalter a speed of the motorcycle 10. The operation of these controls maybe substantially manual by an operator. In addition to or alternativelyto manual operation, various systems may also be controlledsubstantially automatically such as by receiving input from varioussystems, as discussed herein, and executing instructions to achieve aselected result and speed of the motorcycle 10.

The motorcycle 10, therefore, may further include components that areoperable or configured to execute instructions as discussed furtherherein. The motorcycle 10, therefore, may include one or more electricalsources such as a battery 90 that may be charged with a charging systemthat may include an alternator and/or a stator assembly.

In addition to the various assemblies, including the control systems asdiscussed above, the vehicle 10 may further include augmentation oraccessory systems and/or accessory items. As discussed above, themotorcycle 10 may include fairing components 20 as discussed furtherherein, and briefly including a headlight or main light 100 and one ormore auxiliary or passing lights 102 and 104. The auxiliary lights 102,104 may also be turning lights or indicators and/or hazard indicators.Additionally the motorcycle 10 may include a rear or brake light 106 andone or more auxiliary or turn signal indicators 108 and 110.

The fairing component 20 may further include hand guard or lateralportions, such as a left handguard 1121 and a right handguard 112 r. Themotorcycle 10 may further include a lower fairing or lower fairingcomponents 120. The lower fairings 120 may surround and/or includehighway or engine case bars 122. In various embodiments, the lowerfairing 120 may include compartments or volumes that may be enclosedwithin the lower fairing 120. Further accessories may include one ormore saddlebags 140. The saddlebags may include various components suchas a hinge 142 and a lock or catch assembly 144. The saddlebags 140 maybe of an appropriate design or selected design, such as a substantiallyhard case or semi-rigid case that includes a wall 146 of the saddlebag140 that may maintain a selected shape, as illustrated in FIG. 1 , undera selected pressure, such as during travel. The saddlebag 140 may definean internal volume, as discussed further herein.

In various embodiments, the fairing assembly 20, the lower faringassembly 120, and/or the saddlebag 140 may define compartments or havecompartments that include various components or assemblies, as discussedfurther herein. In various embodiments, the motorcycle 10 may includeselected cameras, sensors, emitter arrays, or the like, that may bepositioned in the various components to provide information to variousassemblies on the motorcycle 10.

With continuing reference to FIG. 1 , and additional reference to FIG. 2and FIG. 3 , the motorcycle 10 may include a rider facing or rear facingportion of the fairing assembly 20. The rider facing portion of thefairing assembly 20 may include a rider facing side or surface 150. Therider facing side 150 may include various gauges, such as a speedometer152 and a tachometer 154. In various embodiments, the fairing assembly20 may further include a selectable display 160, such as a Ride Command®video display sold by Polaris Industries Inc. A selection may be madesuch that the display 160 may selectively display various information tothe rider 200 (FIG. 4 ) whom is seated in the seat 28 in a selectedmanner. It is understood by one skilled in the art that the display 160may be incorporated in various components of the motorcycle 10alternatively or in addition to the display 160 in the fairing, forexample rearview mirrors. The display 160 is mounted, generally, toallow the rider 200 to view the display device 160 without turning ahead of the rider 200. That is, the rider 200 need not turn the rider'shead from a direction forward of the motorcycle 10. The selection forinformation to display with the display 160 may be manually,automatically, or with a combination of automatic and manual input. Thevideo display 160 may display information that may be selected by therider 200, such as when the display 160 includes a touch screen, such aswith the Ride Command® touchscreen display and control. Further, variousinput or selection buttons or manual controls 162 may also be providedto control the display 160. The controls 162 may be soft buttons thatare programmable and provide manual input based upon an identificationon the display 160.

As discussed herein, the various systems, such as cameras, sensors (e.g.radar, lidar, lean) may be connected to selected systems of the vehiclein an appropriate manner. For example, cameras for backup and/orblindspot viewing and detection may be directly wired into the displayas a video input. The display may then receive inputs to display imagesfrom the selected cameras. Other systems, such as for cruise controland/or adjustable cruise control, various systems and sensors (e.g.brake controller, Inertial Monitoring Unit (IMU) 650, radar, lidar,camera) may be connected to a high speed communication bus that isconnected to the engine controller (ECU).

Visual Feedback

In various embodiments, the display 160 may be a video display thatdisplays a recorded or live video or picture feed from a selectedcamera. With continuing reference to FIG. 2 , and additional referenceto FIG. 3 , a camera 170 may be mounted in the lower fairing assembly120. The camera 170 may include a lens or portal through a portion ofthe lower fairing 120 to allow a selected wave length of light, such asvisible light, infrared light, or other selected type of light, to reacha sensor of the camera 170. The camera may be any appropriate selectedtype of camera, such as a camera having part number PCC-15501, sold byProtech Global Solutions, LP having a place of business in El Paso, TX.

The camera 170 may be connected to the display 160 in a selected manner,such as directly via a wired connection, directly via a wirelessconnection, or indirectly such as through a selected processing systemor unit. Selected communication protocols may include a controller areanetwork (CAN) bus. In various embodiments the camera 170 may beconnected with a controller or processing system or connected directlyto the display 160 via a video connection thereto. The processor may beincorporated and/or in communication with an engine control unit (ECU)272. Alternatively, or in addition thereto, a camera control processormay be provided with the camera 170.

The camera 170 may be used to capture an image of a selected area, suchas an area behind and/or to a side of the motorcycle 10. The capturedimage may then be displayed on the display 160 as either a still (e.g.single image) or a plurality of images (e.g. a video display at aselected frame rate). The camera 170 may include a selected sensor suchas a charge couple device (CCD) or a complementary metal-oxidesemiconductor (CMOS), or other appropriate type of detector. Thedetector may detect light captured or transmitted through the lensassembly 172 that is then incorporated into the display 160 for viewingby the rider.

In various embodiments, the display of the display device 160 may be alive display and/or a display of a saved image. Accordingly, the displaydevice 160 may be used to display live images from the camera 170 and/ordisplay recorded and saved images from the camera 170. Further, themotorcycle 10 may include a memory system, such as included with thecamera 170, to record a selected number of images captured by the camera170, such as a selected amount of time of video display and/or selectednumber of still images.

In various embodiments, images or video captured with the camera may besaved to a selected memory for a selected period of time. For example,the rider may select that the images be stored at a selected rate for aselected time, such as on image every 1 minute. Further, image or videosmay be saved until space in memory is filled and/or they are deleted bya user. Further, recorded images may be accessed and/or moved to amemory separate from the motorcycle. In various embodiments, acontroller may be programmed to automatically store a selected amount ofvideo and/or begin recording when a possible or imminent collision isabout to occur. Thus, the images and video may be saved for review aftera selected period of time.

Although the camera 170 is illustrated in the lower fairing assembly120, it is understood that the camera 170 may include a plurality ofcameras that may be also mounted in other locations. The camera 170 mayalternatively be mounted and/or include additional cameras that aremounted near the handguard areas 1121, 112 r and/or in the saddlebags140. For example, the lens 172 of the camera 170 may be positionedthrough a wall 146 of the saddlebag 140 to capture images of a lateralside relative to the motorcycle 10 and/or to a rear of the motorcycle10.

With additional reference to FIG. 4 , the placement of the camera, suchas the camera 170, allows for a view, such as a lateral or rearward viewin areas or regions not generally viewable (e.g. blind spot) by therider 200. For example, the rider 200 may be in a riding positionrelative to the motorcycle 10, such as facing forward and the frontwheel assembly 12, and a mirror 204 may have a first viewing cone orvolume 204′. The viewing volume 204′, however, may not include aselected region or volume, which is generally understood or referred toas a blind spot. A second mirror 205 may also have a viewing cone 205′.The camera 170, however, may include a viewing cone or volume 170′ thatencompasses or includes at least a portion of a blind spot or covers anarea or volume different than the viewing volume 204′ of the mirror 204.In various embodiments, as discussed above, a second camera 170 a may beincluded that has a second viewing volume 170 a′. Additionally, asdiscussed above, the motorcycle 10 may include one or more saddlebags140 that may include a camera 170 b that may also have a field of view170 b′ that may include generally an area or region to a side and/orrear of the motorcycle 10. The specific viewing angle of the camera 170b may depend on lens type and view angle and placement of the camera 170b. Further, a rear facing camera 170 c may be provided and mounted tothe motorcycle 10, such as at the fender of the motorcycle 10. Invarious embodiments, the rear camera 170 c may be mounted to a bracketconnected to a fender, a license plate holder, saddlebag mountingbracket, etc. Accordingly, one or more of the cameras 170 may have viewsrelative to the motorcycle that are not easily viewable by the rider 200and/or the mirrors 204, 205 even when the rider 200 is viewing thereflection in the mirrors 204, 205.

With reference to FIG. 2 and FIG. 4 , the views of the selected cameras170 may be displayed on the display screen or display device 160. Thedisplay device 160 may have a selected portion of the display 160 thatis dedicated or selected to display the view of one or more of thecameras 170 and/or the entire display 160 may be dedicated when selectedto display the view from a selected camera.

In various embodiments, different one or more cameras may be selected toprovide a view to display 160 based upon input from the rider 200. Forexample, with reference to table 1 below, various inputs from the rider200 may cause the display device 160 to display a view of one of thecameras.

TABLE 1 Sensed and/or Rider Input Display Camera Right Turn indicatorand/or right lean Right Camera view Left Turn Indicator and/or Left LeanLeft Camera view Negative Velocity Rear Camera view

With reference to Table 1, the motorcycle 10 may include turn signals orturn signal indicator switch. If the rider 200 inputs a right turnindicator, a right camera view, for example, the camera 170, may beactivated and its view displayed on the display device 160. Furthervarious lean detection mechanisms, as discussed herein, may sense ordetermine a selected amount of lean of the motorcycle 10, which may alsobe used or alternatively be used to select a view of the camera 170. Theright camera being displayed on the display device 160 may assist therider 200 in determining whether a vehicle, such as another motorcycle,automobile, or the like, for example an object 210 is in the view coneor area 170′. The area 170′ may include a “blind spot” that is notdirectly viewable by the rider 200 without turning the rider's 200 head,even when viewing the mirror 204. The display 160 may automaticallyswitch to display the view of the camera 170 when the right indicator isindicated or activated. Accordingly, during a right hand lane change,right hand turn, or other right hand operation or right movementoperation, the display screen 160 may display items viewable by thecamera 170 on the right side of the motorcycle 10.

Similarly, when a left turn indicator is operated or activated, a leftcamera 170 a may have its view displayed on the display device 160.Similarly, therefore, when the rider 200 operates the switch to indicatea left turn, the left camera having a view of the left camera 170 adisplayed on the display device 160 may allow the rider 200 to view thearea 170 a′ which may not even be viewable by a mirror reflection 205′and/or easy movement of a head of the rider 200. Further various leandetection mechanisms, as discussed herein, may sense or determine aselected amount of lean of the motorcycle 10, which may also be used oralternatively be used to automatically select a view of the camera 170a. The rider 200 may also maintain a forward facing viewpoint whileviewing other areas around the motorcycle 10 to allow for ease andefficient operation of the motorcycle 10.

Further the motorcycle 10 may include various inputs, sensors, andcontrols that may determine a velocity of the motorcycle 10, including anegative velocity and/or other system status such as sensing a downshift, brake input (pressure or mechanical), clutch disengaged (such asfor a selected duration), decrease in throttle, or other appropriatespeed related amounts. When a negative velocity is sensed or determined,a rear camera 170 b may have its view displayed on the display device160. In various embodiments, as the rider 200 is moving the motorcycle10 in reverse or backwards, such as for parking or moving from a storagearea, the rider 200 may view the display device 160 to see a view of thearea or volume to the rear of the motorcycle 10.

In various embodiments, however, all of the cameras may be displayed onthe display device 160 at various times, such as when a negativevelocity is determined. For example, the display device 160 may bedivided into three portions to allow for a left, middle, and right rearview of the motorcycle 10 on the display device 160 alternatively,various image stitching algorithms, generally known in the art, may beused to stitch two or more of images from the various cameras' imagestogether into a single image. Thus, the displayed image or video image,may be a stitched image or video image to display an encompassing orpanoramic view. This may allow the rider 200 to view an entire area orhave a large field of view, such as about 90 to about 180 degrees onboth sides of a longitudinal axis 101 of the motorcycle 10 when movingthe motorcycle 10 in reverse.

Accordingly, the cameras 170 may be operated at a selected time, such aswhen an input is received from the rider and/or selected sensed input.Therefore, the cameras 170 need not be operated at all times that themotorcycle 10 is on. It is understood, however, that the cameras 170 maybe operated such that the cameras are always on when the motorcycle 10is on or in operation but that the display device 160 only selectivelydisplays a view of one or more of the selected cameras based upon aninput of the rider or a sensed input. Nevertheless, the display 160 maydisplay a view of one or more of the selected cameras 170 to allow forease or efficient operation of the motorcycle 10 by the operator orrider 200.

In addition to the cameras 170, discussed above, other sensors may beattached or connected to the motorcycle 10 as well. As discussed furtherherein, the additional sensors may assist in providing information tothe rider 200 through various rider feedback systems. The additionalsensors and feedback systems may allow the rider 200 to assess theenvironment around the motorcycle 10 for ease and efficient riding ofthe motorcycle 10.

In various embodiments, the motorcycle 10 may further include or beinstalled to include a rear facing radar assembly. With reference toFIG. 1 , FIG. 4 , and FIG. 5 , a radar assembly 250 may be installedinto the saddlebag 140. It is understood that the radar assembly 250 mayinclude two radar assemblies, one installed on either side of themotorcycle 10, such as the radar assembly 250 in the saddlebag 140 and asecond radar assembly 252 in a second saddlebag assembly 141. The tworadar assemblies 250, 252 may be substantially identical other thanidentified as left and right. Similarly, the saddlebag assemblies 140,141 may be substantially identical other than being a left and right aswell. Accordingly, the discussion herein of the radar assembly 250 andthe saddlebag 140 will relate to either or both of the saddlebagassemblies 140, 141, and radar assemblies 250, 252, respectively unlessspecifically identified otherwise.

With additional reference to FIGS. 6A and 6B, in various embodiments, abracket member 260 is formed to interconnect at least the radar assembly250 with at least one wall or bracket of the saddlebag assembly 140.Moreover, it is understood that only a single one of the radarassemblies 250, 252 may be mounted to the motorcycle 10. For example,only the radar assembly 250 may be mounted on a rear fender 11 of themotorcycle 10 to include a view of a volume behind the motorcycle 10.

In various embodiments, when mounted in the saddlebag 140, the bracket260 may be mounted or fixed to the rigid walls 146. In addition oralternatively thereto, the saddlebag 140 is mounted to the motorcycle10, such as to the frame 16 with one or more bracket assemblies.Accordingly, the radar bracket 260 may be mounted or fixed to thesaddlebag bracket for fixation of the radar assembly 250 relative to themotorcycle 10. Nevertheless, the radar assembly 250 is mounted or fixedto the bracket 260 which may be fixed with one or more fasteners 262 tothe wall 146 of the saddlebag assembly 140. It is understood, however,that the radar assemblies 250, 252 need not be mounted to brackets. Forexample, if the saddlebag bracket and/or walls are of appropriate types,structure, etc. the radar assembly 250, 252 may be fixed directly to thewall and/or bracket. For example, adhesives or adhesive materials (e.g.double sided tape) may be used to fix the radar assembly 250, 252 to asurface. Thus, a hole or indent need not be made in the saddlebag orbracket to mount the radar assembly 250, 252.

When a bracket is used, the bracket 260 may be formed of a substantiallyrigid material such as a metal or metal alloy. In various embodiments,however, the bracket 260 may be formed of a selected polymer that doesnot interfere, such as absorb or reflect, radar waves. Various polymermaterials may include Acrylonitrile butadiene styrene (ABS), glassfilled nylon, etc. Further, the bracket 260 may include a selected shapeor geometry, such as reinforcing ribs or members 264 to assist inproviding rigidity to the bracket 260. In various embodiments, the radarassembly 250 is selectively fixed relative to the motorcycle 10 suchthat there is minimal movement of the radar assembly 250 relative to themotorcycle 10 during operation. Thus, the radar assembly 250 may befixed to the bracket 260 in a selected manner such as with one or morefasteners 266 that hold the radar assembly 250 to the bracket 260.

In various embodiments, the radar assembly 250 may include a radaremitter and a radar receiver. The radar assembly 250 may further includevarious processing systems that are configured to execute instructionsto determine position, speed, change in speed, etc. of objects externalto the radar assemblies and/or relative to the motorcycle 10. The radarassembly 250 may include radar systems such as the ARS 400, ARS 441,and/or the SRR 320 radar systems, both sold by Continental AG, having aplace of business in Michigan, USA. The radar assembly 250 may beconfigured to generate a radar signal and receive a reflected radarsignal to determine a distance of a selected object, such as a motorvehicle, relative to the radar assembly 250. Various additionalinformation may include an instantaneous speed (such as within aselected number of milliseconds from a report time) and/or a change inspeed over a selected period of time. The radar assembly 250 may thengenerate a signal regarding the speed and/or position of the vehiclerelative to the motorcycle 10 for further processing, as discussedfurther herein.

It is understood that the radar module 250 may also only transmit asignal regarding the received radar signal reflected from an exteriorvehicle in a surrounding environment. The selected processing, asdiscussed above and further herein, may be performed by additional oralternative onboard processors, such as processor system within orconnected to the engine control unit (ECU) 272. It is understood,therefore, that the radar module 250 may include or selectivelycalculate the position, speed, etc., of exterior items, such as the itemor object 210, relative to the motorcycle 10. Further informationregarding average or instantaneous speed of the motorcycle 10 may bedelivered to the radar unit 250. Transmission of information to theradar unit 250 may be wireless and/or wired, such as via a connection270 such as with the CAN bus. In various embodiments, as discussedabove, the radar assembly 250 may communicate with the ECU 272positioned away from the radar assembly 250, such as below the seat 28and/or near the engine 40.

With continuing reference to FIG. 5 and additional reference to FIG. 4the radar assembly 250 may emit a radar signal represented by curvedlines 280. The radar signal 280 may encounter an object, such as anobject 290 illustrated in FIG. 4 , and/or the object 210. In variouscircumstances the object 290 may be a motor vehicle that is movingtoward the motorcycle 10. The radar signal 280, as is generallyunderstood in the art, may be emitted by the radar assembly 250,encounter the object 290, and be reflected back to the radar assembly250. The radar assembly, or a selected processing system, may determinea position and/or speed of the object 290 based upon the reflectiveradar signal. The reflected radar signal may be represented as thereflected or returning lines 282. In various embodiments, the sensorassemblies may be operated to determine and measure different distancesto different areas relative to the motorcycle 10. For example, theobject 210 may be closer than the object 290 and the sensor assembliesmay be operated to determine the difference distances and determineactions, as discussed herein, differently based on the differentdistances.

As discussed above the display 160 may display a view of one or more ofthe cameras 170 based upon a selected operation on input. For example,with reference to FIG. 7A, a flowchart or logic diagram 300 isillustrated. The flowchart 300 may be selectively operated in additionor alternatively to the logic illustrated and described in Table 1above. In various embodiments, therefore, the rear camera, such as therear camera 170 c, may have its display displayed on the display device160 and/or turned on or turned off. For example, with reference to theflowchart 300, the flow chart may be of an algorithm and relatedinstructions for a processor (e.g. processor receiving a signal from theradar assembly 250, 252 and/or a processor that is a portion of the ECU272) to determine whether or not the display 160 displays the view ofthe rear camera in block 310 or does not display a view of the rearcamera in block 314.

The method may include a start block 318 which may be starting operationor turning on the ignition of the motorcycle 10. The flowchart 300 maythen determine whether the speed of the motorcycle 10 is less than 5miles per hour in block 320. If no, a NO path 322 is followed and adisplay of the rear camera is turned off in block 314. If the speed isless than 5 miles per hour, a YES path 324 is followed to a secondoptional determination block 326. In the second optional determinationblock, a determination of whether the clutch is pulled in and/or themotorcycle is in neutral is determine in block 326. If the clutch is notpulled in or the motorcycle is not in neutral, a NO path 328 is followedand the display of the rear camera is turned off or not displayed inblock 314. Accordingly, if the speed is less than 5 miles per hour andif the clutch is not pulled in and/or the motorcycle is not in neutralin either instance a display on the display device 160 of the rearcamera is not made.

If in the second optional determination block 326 is it determined, suchas by receiving a single from a sensor, that the clutch is pulled inand/or the motorcycle is in neutral, a YES path 330 is followed todetermine or receive other inputs in block 331. Other inputs may bedetermination of application of a brake, lean angle, etc. After otherinputs are received in block 331, if selected, a determination ofwhether the radar has detected oncoming cars made in block 332. Adetermination of whether the radar has detected an oncoming car is basedupon a sensed rate or approach to the motorcycle 10 and/or timecalculated to possible impact. For example, the radar assembly 250 maysense a vehicle approaching the motorcycle at a relative speed of 20miles per hour (MPH) and that the vehicle is 290 is 60 feet away. Thus,a determination may be made that the vehicle 290 is only about 2 secondsfrom impact. Any appropriate selected time to impact may be selected,however, for determination of impact.

If it is determined that the radar is not detecting an oncoming car, aNO path 334 is followed and a display of the rear camera is not made inblock 314. However, if the radar assembly 250 does detect an oncomingcar a YES path 338 may be followed to display the rearview camera on thedisplay device 160 in block 310. Accordingly, as illustrated in FIG. 7A,in various embodiments, a display of a rearview camera may be made eventhough the motorcycle 10 is not moving backward or does not have anegative velocity if the motorcycle has a selected forward velocity inblock 320, the clutch is pulled in and/or the motorcycle is in neutralin block 326, and the radar assembly 250 detects an oncoming car inblock 332. This may allow the rider 200 to view on the display device160 the view of the rear camera in block 310.

As discussed above, with reference to FIG. 7A, the method 300 may beused to determine whether to display a selected camera image on thedisplay device 160 to illustrate to the rider 200 whether a vehicle,such as the vehicle 290, is close to the motorcycle 10 and/or maypossibly come in contact with the motorcycle 10. As discussed above inthe method 300, however, the motorcycle is substantially at a stop orstand still or not under power. For example, the method 300 may beappropriate for a motorcycle when stopped at a traffic light and/ortraffic signal. However, it is understood, that the rider 200 may alsodesire or be selected to be made aware that a vehicle is approachingwith viewing the display 160 while the motorcycle is at a selected speedgreater than 5 mph.

With reference to FIG. 7B a method 300′, similar to the method 300,discussed above is illustrated. The method 300′ is similar to the method300 and similar or identical portions will not be described in detail,but the same reference numerals augmented with a prime will be used.Accordingly, the method 300′ may turn a display of a rear camera on inblock 310′ or turn a display of a rear camera off in block 314′. Themethod 300′ may start in block 318′ and may receive inputs block 331′.Receiving inputs in block 331′ may include the rider 200 activating arear approach detection system on the motorcycle 10 and/or initiating orstarting the motorcycle 10. The process may then begin an ongoingdetermination in determining from block 332′ of whether the radar sensordetects an approaching car or vehicle. As discussed above, thedetermination of whether the radar detects an oncoming vehicle may bebased upon a speed of a vehicle approaching the motorcycle 10, adistance of a vehicle to the motorcycle 10, or a possible time of impactor contact based upon a detected speed and distance of the vehicle. Ifno vehicle is detected, a NO path 334′ may be followed to turn offdisplay of the rear camera in block 314′.

Thereafter the process may reinitiate and a continued detection ordetermination of whether the radar is detecting a car in block 322′ mayoccur. If a car is detected in block 332′ a YES path 338 prime may befollowed to turn a display on in block 310′. Accordingly, the display160 may display a view of a rear camera, such as the rear camera 170 cwhen a radar detects an oncoming car in block 332′. Accordingly, it isunderstood that a display of the rear facing camera may be made when themotorcycle 10 is substantially stopped or mostly stopped, as illustratedin method 300 or at a selected speed or any speed greater than 5 mph asillustrated in method 300′.

The rider 200 may then be made aware that a vehicle is oncoming at aselected rate of speed. For example, a determination of a detection ofan oncoming vehicle in block 332 may determine whether the oncomingvehicle, such as the object 290, is slowing down at a selected rate, isstopped, or has another selected speed or position. The rider 200,therefore, need not attempt to turn around to view an area or volumebehind the motorcycle 10 but may view the display device 160. Moreover,the display on the display device 160 may be made to display the view ofthe rear camera in block 310 substantially automatically in light of thealgorithm of logic illustrated in FIG. 7A. Accordingly the rider 200need not operate a camera, such as the rear camera 170 c, but rather mayoperate the motorcycle 10 in a normal operating manner while the view ofthe display device 160 may automatically display the view of the rearcamera 170 c if an oncoming vehicle is detected.

It is further understood that the radar assembly 250, 252 is anexemplary sensor assembly. Alternative or additional sensors may includeoptical sensors, lidar (laser radar) sensors, etc. Thus, any appropriatesensor may be used to determine or for operation of the flowchart 300.

In addition to the radar assembly 250, 252, additional or further sensorassemblies, including additional radar assemblies may be attached to themotorcycle 10. In various embodiments, for example, the motorcycle 10may have connected thereto a third or forward facing radar assembly 350.The forward facing radar assembly 350, as illustrated in FIG. 1 and FIG.4 , may be connected to and/or relative to the fairing assembly 20. Invarious embodiments, the radar assembly 350 may be incorporated into thefront headlight 100. Alternatively, or in addition thereto, the radarassembly 350 may be connected to a bracket (similar to the bracket 260)that is connected to the headlight 100, front fender, ornamentation onthe front fender, and/or other fairing components 20.

The forward facing or front facing (FF) radar assembly 350 may emit aradar signal generally in a forward direction or away from themotorcycle 10 as illustrated by the curved lines 354. The radar signalemitted from the radar assembly 350 may encounter an object, such as afront or forward object 360 relative to the motorcycle 10, asillustrated in FIG. 4 . The front object 360 may be any appropriatefront object, such as a car or 4-wheel vehicle that is in front of orforward of the motorcycle 10. Alternatively, or in addition thereto, asdiscussed further herein, the front or forward object 360 may be one ormore motorcycles relative to the first motorcycle 10. As discussedfurther herein, the FF radar assembly 350 may assist in various systemssuch as a cruise control of the motorcycle 10, forward object detectionand/or avoidance and the like.

Initially, with reference to FIG. 8A and FIG. 8B, the radar assembly 350may be mounted in a bracket assembly or bracket member 370 that is fixedto the fairing assembly 20 and/or the front fork assembly or suspensionassembly 18. For example, the radar assembly 350 may be positioned inthe bracket 370 substantially beneath the front headlight 100 and behinda body panel of the fairing assembly 20. The radar assembly 350,however, similar to the rear facing radar assemblies 250, 252, may emitthe radar signal 354 that is unobstructed by a selected material of abody panel portion 374 such that the radar assembly 350 is notunobstructed from view exterior to the fairing assembly 20. The bracketassembly may mount to the light housing or lighting assembly, to a panelof the fairing assembly 20, or other appropriate portion. In variousembodiments, therefore, the radar assembly 350 is fixed at a selectedposition relative to the motorcycle 10 for operation of the radarassembly 350.

In various embodiments, however, a separate or extra bracket or mountingportion may be necessary. The radar assembly 350 may be mounted to thefairing or other body portion directly and be placed and/or designed tooperate without interference from the body panel, even if mounted behindthe body panel.

As discussed above, the radar assembly 350 may include processingportions that allow the radar assembly 350 to determine a relative speedof the motorcycle 10 and the object 360, a change in speed of the object360, and/or a change in speed of the motorcycle 10. In addition to speedor change in speed, a trajectory relative to the motorcycle 10 of theexternal object may be determined. Further, in various embodiments, aclassification of the external object (e.g. tractor-trailer, smallautomobile, motorcycle) may be made. The radar assembly 350 maytherefore include computational portions, such as a processor system, toallow for determination of speed and/or position of various portions. Asan alternative, or in addition thereto, the signal may be transmittedfrom the radar assembly 350 to other processing systems, such as the ECU272 for processing the signal from the radar assembly to make thedetermination of speed, position, and the like. Nevertheless, the radarassembly 350 may be used to transmit a radar signal from the motorcycle10 to or reflect a signal from objects that are in front of themotorcycle 10, such as the object 360.

Haptic Feedback

In addition to the display 160, the motorcycle 10 may include additionalfeedback to the rider 200, such as a haptic feedback. The hapticfeedback may include one or more haptic assemblies positioned in or onthe seat assembly 28. With reference to FIG. 1 , the seat assembly 28 ispositioned on the motorcycle 10 such as rider 200 may sit on the seatassembly 28 during operation of the motorcycle 10. Turning reference toFIG. 9 , the seat assembly 28 may include haptic feedback assemblies,such as one or more vibrational motors or vibrational motor assemblies350. The motor assemblies 350 may include, with reference to a directionof the motorcycle 10 where the front wheel assembly 12 is the front ofthe motorcycle, includes a right vibrational motor assembly 450 a, aleft vibrational motor assembly 450 b, and a rear vibrational motorassembly 450 c. The vibrational motor assemblies 450 may further includea front or forward vibrational motor assembly 450 d. The vibrationalmotor assemblies 450 may be any appropriate vibrational motor assembly,such as those that are operated or powered by an electrical source. Thevibrational motor assemblies 450 may be powered by the battery 90 andmay be connected thereto for a power source.

The motor assemblies 450 may be further connected to a controller, suchas a vibrational motor controller 452, which may also be mounted in theseat assembly 28. The controller 452 may receive signals from variousassemblies, such as the rear radar assemblies 250, 252. The controller452 may further receive signals from other controllers, to operate themotors 450 in a selected manner. In addition, it is understood, that thecontroller 452 may include processing assemblies to allow for operationof the vibration motor assemblies 450 in a selected manner, as discussedfurther herein. Accordingly, the vibrational motor assemblies 450 may beoperated to provide feedback to the rider 200 when the rider 200 is onthe seat assembly 28.

The positioning of the motor assemblies 450 may provide directional orpositional haptic feedback to the rider 200. For example, the rearvibrational motor assembly 450 c may provide haptic feedback, such as avibration, to a rear portion of the rider 200. The right and left hapticfeedback motors 450 a, 450 b, may respectively provide left and righthaptic feedback to the rider 200. Similarly the forward or front hapticfeedback motor 450 d may provide feedback or sensation to the rider 200at a forward location.

In various embodiments, as discussed above, the radar assemblies 250,252, may sense or be operated to sense or detect an object, such as therearward object 290. As discussed above, the rearward object 290 mayinclude a moving object, such as a car. Accordingly, the rearward object290 may move toward the motorcycle 10 and the movement may be detectedby the radar assemblies 250, 252. Based upon a sensed speed, position,change in speed, or the like, the display 160 may display a view fromone or more of the cameras 170, as discussed above. In addition oralternatively to the display on the display device 160, the rider 200may be given haptic feedback. The haptic feedback may be provided by themotor assemblies 450 positioned in the seat assembly 28. The feedback tothe rider 200 may further include additional indicators includingindicators on the display 160, light sources in the fairing assembly(such as on the panel or surface 150), and/or one or more lights in themirrors 204 and 205. Further, various indicators may have multiplepurposes such as turn indicators. The turn indicators may flash in acolor other than indicating a turn, at a selected rate, or otherwise toprovide an indication to the rider 200.

With reference to Table 2 in FIG. 9A, a logic or control conditions maybe implemented as a conditional statement or expression to be executedby the controller 452 (as discussed above which may include processingassemblies) or other appropriate processing assemblies to send a signalto the controller 452 to control one or more of the selected hapticmotors 450. In various embodiments, the various items in Table 2 havepriorities including priority 1, priority 2, and priority 3. The logicmay operate as an else-if logic wherein: (1) if a priority 1 feature isactive, do all active priority 1 tasks then brake, (2) Else if checkpriority 2 feature criteria, if criteria is met then do all applicablepriority 2 tasks then brake, (3) Else if check priority 3 featurecriteria, if criteria is met then do all applicable priority 3 tasksthen brake, and (4) If none of the priority features are active thenprovide no haptic feedback.

The various actions that may be taken are illustrated in Table 2 in FIG.9A. The actions may occur given Forward notification, Rear approachingtraffic, blind spot detection, and lane change assist. As illustrated inTable 2, various prerequisites may include that the motorcycle be movingat a selected speed, such as greater than 10 mph or less than 10 mph(including about or absolutely zero mph). Accordingly, if a priority 1is determined the identified Tasks will occur. For example, in the firstrow, a Forward Notification may occur if the forward radar assemblydetects the forward object 360, such as another vehicle, an obstruction,or the like. If detected visual feedbacks, such as LED's in the mirrors204, 205, or on the fairing panel 150 may flash for a selected amount oftime and at a selected rate. Further the central or forward hapticfeedback motor 450 d may operate to provide haptic feedback to the rider200.

With continuing reference to Table 2 in FIG. 9A, in row 2, a rearapproaching traffic alert may also be a priority 1 and may be operatedif the motorcycle is traveling at greater than 10 mph and the rear radarassemblies 250, 252 have detected the rear object 290. Vehicle detectionmay be based on various sensor inputs and algorithms, as discussedherein. Feedback to the rider 200 may again include flashes of light andprovide haptic feedback with the haptic feedback motors such as with theleft and right motors 450 b, 450 a. In the row 3, a rear approachingtraffic alert may also be provided if the motorcycle is traveling at aspeed less than 10 mph (including at or substantially at zero mph),which may be similar or augmented by additional color lights, moreintensive vibration or feedback with the haptic motors, or the like.

With continuing reference to Table 2 in FIG. 9A, the priority 2 featuresmay be included or activated if none of the priority 1 features areactivated but it is determined that the priority 2 is occurring. Inparticular, the priority 2 items may be a moderate or more moderate riskwith the motorcycle 10 than determined under the priority 1 conditions.Accordingly, as illustrated in table 2, the feedback to the rider 200may include constant lights or indicator lights, which may be the samelight as used in the priority 1 instances, but not flash. Further, thehaptic feedback motors 450 may operate differently than during priority1 situations For example, the forward or central haptic feedback motor450 d may pulsate rather than be constantly on. Similarly, for a rearnotification, the left and right 450 b, 450 a and/or the rear 450 chaptic feedback motor may pulsate at a selected rate.

Finally, the priority 3 items may include a blind spot awareness anddetection and/or lane change assist and feedback. Again the priority 3item may be operational only if neither of the priority 1 instances, norare priority 2 instances occurring. Accordingly, as illustrated in theTable 2 in FIG. 9A, during a left movement, such as a left lane change,a left mirror LED may be on and the left haptic feedback 450 b maypulsate at a selected manner that may be different than the otherpulsations or operations of the haptic feedback motor assembly 450 b.Similarly for a right movement or lane change the right bright light maybe operated and the right haptic feedback motor 450 a may be operationalat a selected rate, such as pulsating in a manner different thanotherwise operated for providing haptic feedback. The feedback may beactivated when the selected sensors, such as the radar assemblies 250,252 and/or the cameras 170, or other appropriate sensors, sense objectsin the selected right or left areas. For example, as illustrated in FIG.4 is a right turn or lane change is occurring and the object 210 isdetected the priority 3 feature may be activated.

The left and right lane changes may be determined based upon operationof the motorcycle 10 by the rider 200. In various embodiments, asdiscussed above, the rider 200 may operate turn signal indicators andthe cameras 170 and/or the radar assemblies 250, 252, 350 may operate tosense or determine whether there are vehicles or obstacles in thedirection indicated by the rider 200 by operation of the turn signalindicator. The feedback systems, such as the haptic feedback motors 450may then provide the appropriate indication to the rider or feedback tothe rider 200 if other vehicles or obstacles are sensed in the right orleft areas, particularly in the blind spot areas of the motorcycle 10.It is further understood that additional feedback determinations may bemade such as based upon a leaning of the motorcycle, amount of turningof the front suspension assembly 18, or other selected inputs to thecontroller 452.

Vehicle detection may be made for the various warning tasks, as notedabove and illustrated at FIG. 9A and Table 2, such as for forwardcollision or detection identification (FCW), rear approaching trafficalert (RATA), blind spot detection or alert (BSD), or lane change alertor assist (LCA). For example, a probability of a collision may be usedto determine a high, low, or moderate risk, or other risks. For examplea speed and distance and/or change in speed of a vehicle approaching themotorcycle 10, or the motorcycle 10 approaching another object orvehicle, may be determined. Based upon the distance, speed, and/or rateof change of speed the determination may be made of a probability of acontact. For example, if the system determines that at a current speedand/or rate of change of speed and current distance that the motorcycle10 is, for example, two seconds or less away from an object, theprobability may be determined to be a high risk. If it is determinedthat the motorcycle and/or the object are at least five seconds awayfrom each other, a moderate risk may be determined. If it is determinedthat the motorcycle and/or the object are at least ten seconds away fromeach other, it may be determined that no or low risk of collision ispossible. It is understood that various times may also be determined,such as three seconds for a high risk, four seconds for a moderate risk,and greater than twenty seconds for no risk, and times are merelyexemplary. Nevertheless, the determination may be made based upon thesignal from various assemblies, such as the radar assemblies, andfeedback may be provided to the rider such as hepatic feedback and/ordisplay on the display device 160.

In various embodiments, the haptic feedback system may include more thanthe four motors 450 a-450 d, which may also be referred to as zones,and/or less than the four motors 450 a-450 d. For example, only theforward motor 450 d and the rearward or aft motor 450 c may be providedto give fore and aft haptic feedback. Similarly, only the left motor 450b and the right motor 450 a may be provided to give left and righthaptic feedback. Thus, the haptic feedback system need not only all fourmotors 450 a-450 d and/or only the four motors 450 a-450 d.

Non-Rider Notification

As discussed above, the various sensors, such as the rear facing radarassemblies 250, 252 and/or the forward facing radar assembly 350 maysense or detect objects exterior to the motorcycle 10. As further notedabove, feedback may be given to the rider 200 of the motorcycle 10regarding various sensed objects. In addition to feedback given to therider 200, however, feedback or notices may be given to objects orindividuals in the objects 290, to the rider of the motorcycle 10,and/or alternatively other vehicles.

With reference to FIG. 1 , FIG. 4 , FIG. 9 , and FIG. 10 , alerts may begiven to the rider 200 and to operators of objects surrounding, exterioror external to the motorcycle 10, such as drivers of vehicles that maybe the objects such as the rear object 290. As discussed above, variousfeedback may be given to the rider 200 based upon a detected approach ofa vehicle, such as the rear object 290. Indications or notifications maybe given to an operator of the rear vehicle as well.

As discussed above, with specific reference to FIG. 1 , the motorcycle10 may include various visual indicators, including one or more rearprojecting lights. For example, left and right turn indicators 108, 110may be present. Generally, the turn indicators may be a non-white colorand may be operated in hazard mode where both left and right lights 108,110 may be illuminated simultaneously and/or blink simultaneously.Further, the motorcycle 10 may include the central light, such as thebrake light 106. The brake light 106 is also generally a non-white colorsuch as red or a shade of red. Any one or more of these indicators maybe illuminated at such a time to provide an indication to an oncomingvehicle. The notification may include when the motorcycle 10, asdiscussed herein, has detected that the oncoming vehicle is approachingat a high rate of speed, not slowing, or to indicate that the motorcycle10 is slowing to further enhance visibility to an operator of theoncoming vehicle.

Accordingly, with reference to FIG. 10 , selected notifications, such asvisual or auditory feedback, may be given to the operator of theoncoming vehicle. For example, a flowchart 480 illustrated in FIG. 10may include an ongoing or repeated monitoring or sensing of a rearapproaching object or vehicle, such as the object 290, in block 484. Adecision block 488 may be whether a vehicle is detected. If no vehicleis detected, a NO path 490 is followed to continue monitoring in block484. If the vehicle is detected, a YES path 494 may be followed.

Detection of an approaching vehicle may include various determinations,such as noted above including relative speed of the sensed externalobject or vehicle, rate of change in speed, distance, etc. Detection ora positive determination of a detected vehicle may be that the speed ofthe external vehicle, such as object 290 (FIG. 4 ) is greater than 5miles per hour faster than the motorcycle. Alternatively oradditionally, if it is determined that the external vehicle is less thana certain time away, such as less than 2 seconds away given a speed,distance, and/or change in speed.

After following the YES path 494, a first driver indication can be madein block 500. The first indication in block 500 may be when the externalobject is traveling at selected low rate of speed (e.g. between 5 and 15miles per hour), is at a selected distance away, is determined to be aselected time away, is traveling at a selected rate of speed relative tothe motorcycle 10, or combinations of the above. Indications to theexternal driver may include flashing the hazard or the indicator lights,such as the lights 108, 110 a selected number of times at a selectedspeed, such as three times with about 500 milliseconds between eachflash. A feedback may also be given to the rider 200, as discussed abovein FIG. 9A, including flashing the turn signals on the panel 150 and/ora specific icon or indicator on the panel 160 of the fairing assembly20.

After providing the initial indication in block 500, a determination ofwhether the vehicle continues toward the motorcycle 10 and has a certaincondition (e.g. at a selected speed, distance and speed, time away,etc.) is made in block 504. If determination is that the vehicle orexternal object has slowed down and, therefore, is not continuing towardthe motorcycle 10 at a selected rate of speed, a NO path 506 may befollowed to continue monitoring in block 484.

If the vehicle continues or an object continues at a high rate of speedtowards the motorcycle 10, a YES path 510 may be followed to providefurther or additional indications to the driver in block 514. Furtherindications may include an auditory output such as sounding anotification system, such as a speaker, a horn other auditory output,such as a siren. For example, a directional speaker 520 (FIG. 1 ) may bemounted near the taillight 106 and/or in one or more of the saddlebags140. The directional speaker 520 may be directed away from a rear of themotorcycle 10 such that the sound is directed toward the oncoming object290. Further, the brake light 106 may flash at a selected rate, numberof flashes, or other appropriate indication. Additionally, the brakelight 106 may flash in addition to the indicator light 108, 110. Theindications/notifications may be continued to be made from themotorcycle 10 in block 514 while continuing to monitor in block 484. Theindications in block 514, therefore, may be made until it is determinedthat the vehicle 290 has slowed or stopped. Accordingly, outputregarding approaching objects or items may be made to both a rider 200into operators of the approaching objects.

Lean Determination

Returning into reference to FIG. 1 , as discussed above, the motorcycle10 may include various assembly portions such as the frame 16, thesaddlebags 140, the highway/engine guard bars 122, and other selectedcomponents. In various embodiments, selected assemblies may be attachedto different positions relative to these mounting portions that allowsensing of an area exterior or around motorcycle 10. In variousembodiments, for example, with reference to FIG. 11A, the motorcycle 10including the saddlebags 140, may include one or more sensors 600. Thesensors 600 may be in a selected type of sensor such as an ultrasonicsensor, a laser imaging detection and ranging (LIDAR), Radar sensor, orother appropriate sensors.

The sensor 600 may emit a signal 602, such as an ultrasonic signal, thatimpinges a surface, such as a road surface 606. A reflected signal 608may then be received by the sensor 600. The sensor assembly 600, orother appropriate processing system, may determine a distance betweenthe sensor 600 and the surface 606 off which the reflected signal 608reflects. The distance may be used to determine a lean angle or aposition of the motorcycle 10 relative to the road surface. In addition,an Inertial Monitoring Unit (IMU) 650 may also be mounted to themotorcycle 10, as discussed herein, to measure selected orientations ofthe motorcycle 10 relative to the direction of acceleration of gravityand/or accelerations due to vehicle motion.

With additional reference to FIG. 11B and FIG. 11C, in variousembodiments, the motorcycle 10 may include a sensor module on both aright and a left side, such as a first module 600 on the left side and asecond module 600 a on the right side. A central axis 612 may be formedbetween motorcycle 10 and the surface 606, such as a substantiallyperpendicular angle 614 when the motorcycle 10 is upright. Accordingly,both the sensors 600, 600 a will sense the same distance orpredetermined distance at the perpendicular angle 614. At certainconditions, however, the motorcycle 10 may be titled relative to thesurface 606. As illustrated in FIG. 11C, the motorcycle may be titledsuch that the left sensor 600 is nearer the surface 606, such as a firstdistance 620, than a second distance 622 of the second sensor 606 a. Inthis orientation, the motorcycle 10, or the axis 612 defined thereby,has an angle 624 that is greater than the angle 614. It is understood,however, that the complimentary angle, relative to angle 624 may be suchas when the motorcycle is cornering in a left turn, the left side of themotorcycle is closer to the ground 606. Accordingly, the sensor 600, 600a is used to determine relative spacing of left and right sides of themotorcycle 10 relative to surface 606 for determine or assisting indetermining a lean angle relative to the surface 606 of motorcycle 10.It is understood that a plurality of sensors may be positioned on eitherside, such as a plurality of sensors, which may assist in providingadditional information or feedback regarding the sensed signals.

Additionally, the IMU 650, as illustrated in FIG. 1 and FIG. 11A, mayinclude various sensors in addition to the sensors 600, 600 a. The IMU650 may include one or more gyroscopes, one or more accelerometers, andcombinations thereof. The gyroscopes and accelerometers may be mountedin a fixed position relative to the motorcycle 10, such as with abracket to the frame 16. The IMU 650 may be positioned substantiallynear a center of gravity of the motorcycle 10, including accounting forwhen the rider 200 is seated thereon. The IMU 650 may also be used toprovide information or feedback regarding a specific location ororientation of the motorcycle relative to gravity. The accelerometer andgyroscope may be any appropriate accelerometer and gyroscope that may beintegrated as one system or unit, or separate systems and unites.Exemplary accelerometers and gyroscopes include an iNEMO inertialmodule: always-on 3D accelerometer and 3D gyroscope, sold bySTMicroelectronics NV.

In various embodiments, the information regarding a lean angle or anangle of the motorcycle 10 may include information from both the IMU 650and the sensor 600, 600 a. As discussed above, the sensor 600, 600 a maybe used to determine an angle of the motorcycle 10 relative to thesurface 606. The IMU 650, however, may determine the angle of themotorcycle 10 relative to gravity which is generally toward a center ofthe Earth. It is understood that the surface 606, however, may not beperpendicular to the force of gravity. Accordingly, the actual surface606 may not be entirely defined by the IM 650 is the surface 606 is notperpendicular to the direction of the force of gravity (e.g. a banked orslanted road surface). In various embodiments, therefore, it may beselected to include additional sensors, such as the sensor 600, toassist in determining lean angle of the motorcycle 10 relative to thesurface 606. The additional information may be used for variouspurposes, as discussed herein, including compensating for movement ofthe motorcycle in possible directions of sensor detected signals, suchas from the radar assemblies 250, 252 and 350. Further, the leaninformation may assist with any system that is interested or related toa tire's contact patch with the ground such as anti-lock braking systems(ABS) or traction control.

Sensor Assembly and/or Beam Movement

The motorcycle 10, as discussed above, may not always, be perpendicularto a road surface, such as the road surface 606 as illustrated in FIG.11A and FIG. 11B. In various instances, such as when the motorcycle 10is turning or maneuvering, the motorcycle 10 may be tilted relative tothe road surface 606 as illustrated in FIG. 11C. As illustrated in FIG.1 , the radar sensor 350 may be mounted in a substantially fixedposition relative to the motorcycle 10 and/or the fairing 20. In variousembodiments, the fairing 20 may rotate when the operator 200 steers orturns the handlebars 24 of the motorcycle 10. Even if the radar assembly350 is fixed relative to the motorcycle 10, such as the frame 16, sothat it does not rotate, the movement of the motorcycle 10 may cause theradar assembly 350 to not point directly in front of the motorcycle 10and/or along an intended path of the motorcycle 10.

With reference to FIG. 12A, in various instances the motorcycle 10 maybe moving along a surface 606 and a beam or signal 350 b is emitted bythe radar assembly 350 substantially along an axis 101 of the motorcycle10. The axis 101 may be the longitudinal axis of the motorcycle 10. Asdiscussed above, the radar assembly 350 may be fixed such that the beam350 b emits a beam or cone that is substantially centered on the axis101. In various situations, as illustrated in FIG. 12B, the motorcycle10 and the beam 350 b may not be directed along a path 606 r of thesurface 606, such as if the surface 606 is a road that is curved.Accordingly the beam 350 b extending along the axis 101 may no longerencompass the forward object 360 as the road surface 606 causes theforward object 360 to not be within or entirely within the beam 350 b.Further, as the motorcycle 10 turns during the path 606 r the beam 350b, which is generally cone shaped, may also not be directed orsubstantially directed above a horizon or the surface 606, asillustrated in FIG. 12C.

As illustrated in FIG. 12C, the radar beam 350 b, due to a lean angle,as determined as discussed above, of the motorcycle 10, may impinge orencompass a volume or area that would be below the surface 606.Accordingly, as the motorcycle 10 navigates or travels along the curvedpath 606 r, the radar beam 350 b may not be directed at an area orvolume that is forward of the motorcycle 10. As discussed furtherherein, the radar sensor 350, therefore, may be moved relative to themotorcycle 10, to direct the radar beam 350 b substantially away fromthe surface 606 and/or around the curved path 606 r to maintain the beam350 b in front of the motorcycle 10 to allow to encompass or sense thevehicle 360.

As discussed above, as the motorcycle 10 begins to turn the motorcycle10 may lean without substantially turning the direction of the radarassembly 350 as the motorcycle 10 may not have the fairing assembly 20rotate as the motorcycle 10 is turning in the direction of the curve 606r. As is understood in the art, the motorcycle 10 may begin turning inthe curve by leaning, which may not cause the radar assembly 350 todirect the radar beam 350 b along the direction of the curve 606 r.Further, as is understood in the art, the motorcycle 10 may be turned ormaneuvered using a counter steer technique where the handlebars aremoved in a direction opposite that of an intended direction of travel ofthe motorcycle 10. The counter steer technique may initially move thehandlebars in the direction away from the curve direction 606 r whichwould also cause the radar beam 350 b to not be directed along thedirection of the curve 606 r.

In various embodiments, as discussed above, sensors may sense the leanangle of the motorcycle 10 such as with the IMU 650 and/or the sensor600. Further, additional sensors may be provided to determine or sensethe amount of turning of the handlebars 24 relative to the frame 16.Various sensors, such as the IMU 650 and/or the sensors 600 may assistin determining a direction of travel.

With additional reference to FIG. 13 , the radar assembly 350 isschematically illustrated. The radar assembly 350 may emit the radarbeam 350 b. It is understood, however, that the radar assembly 350illustrated in FIG. 13 is exemplary of any appropriate sensor assembly.The radar assembly 350, as discussed above, may be mounted relative tothe motorcycle 10 in an appropriate manner. For example, the radarassembly 350 may be mounted in a fixed manner relative to the motorcycle10, such as the fairing assembly 20. In various embodiments, the radarassembly 350 may be positioned on, such as fixed to, an actuator 700.

The actuator 700 may include various components, such as a stage 704 anda platform 706. The platform 706 may include a motor 710 that isconnected to the stage 704 via a selected component, such as a rod 712.The motor 710 may be controlled, such as by the ECU 272 or otherassemblies, such as the IMU 650, or the like based upon a determinationof a lean angle of the motorcycle 10. The motor 710 may move the rod 712to move the stage 714 in a selected manner to counteract movement of themotorcycle 10, such as leaning or tilting of the motorcycle 10, toensure that the beam 350 b is maintained in a selected direction. Forexample, as illustrated in FIG. 12B, the motor 710 may operate to twistor rotate the radar assembly 350 around an axis 716 in a selected mannerto move the beam in the direction of the curve 606 r. Thus, the beam 350b may be moved to maintain the beam 350 b along an intended direction oftravel of the motorcycle 10 regardless of the position of the radarassembly 350 relative to the motorcycle 10.

Movement of the radar assembly 350 to move the radar beam 350 b may bebased upon a determined amount of lean angle, rotation of the handlebars24, or other appropriate considerations. For example, the actuator 700may rotate to the radar assembly 350. For example, the radar sensor 350may be rotated counter to the lean angle to overcome the movement of thebeam 350 b into the surface 606, as illustrate in FIG. 12C. Thus, theradar sensor may be moved one degree clockwise or each degree of leancounter clockwise, and vice versa. The radar sensor may also be rotatedto follow the direction of the path of the motorcycle 10. Further, themotor 710 may be operated to move the stage 704 at an angle relative tothe platform 706 in addition to rotating relative to the axis 716.Accordingly, the radar assembly 350 may be moved in an appropriatemanner relative to the platform 706.

Further movement of the radar assembly 350 may be performed with othermechanical systems. For example, the radar assembly 350 may be mountedon a gimbal, such as a multi-axis gimbal, such that the single ormulti-axis gimbal may be moved to direct the radar beam 350 b based uponinputs from a selected amount of lean angle and/or rotation of thehandlebars 24. Accordingly, the radar assembly 350 may be moved with amechanical system in a selected manner to direct the radar beam 350 b.Also, or alternatively, the radar sensor 350 may be moved with othersystems, such as a headlight.

In further embodiments, however, selected beam shaping or formingmechanisms may be used to direct the beam 350 b relative to the radarassembly 350. In various embodiments, therefore, the radar assembly 350may be maintained in a fixed location and positioned relative to themotorcycle 10, but the beam 350 b may be moved relative to the radarassembly 350. In such a system the beam 350 b may be shaped or formedwith electronic means, such as frequency modulation. Further, mechanicalsystem may cause the beam 350 b to moves such as with one or moreantenna arrays of the radar assembly 350 being moveable without moving aphysical case or housing of the radar assembly 350. Accordingly, theradar beam 350 b may be moved in a manner as discussed above, withoutmoving the radar assembly 350.

Automatic Following Distance and Cruise Control

The motorcycle 10 may include systems that are configurable by the rider200 for various purposes. For example, a cruise control may include anelectronic switch or selector 905 that allows the rider 200 to select aspeed to maintain the motorcycle 10. The cruise control may includecruise controls such as those generally known in the art, includingcruise controls included on the Roadmaster® motorcycle, as discussedabove. The cruise control may selectively maintain the motorcycle at aselected speed. In various instances, however, the speed of themotorcycle may be selected to be altered due to various situations, suchas an object that is in a selected or intended path of the motorcycle10. The motorcycle 10, as discussed above, may include the radarassembly 350. The radar assembly 350 may include various features toidentify and determine positions, speeds, and changes in speed ofobjects in front of or in an intended path of the motorcycle 10. Inaddition to the radar assembly 350, with reference to FIG. 1 , themotorcycle may include one or more camera assemblies 800 that includesvarious portions such as a lens that has a field of view 802 of an areaforward of the motorcycle 10. The camera 800 which may be positioned andconfigured to obtain a view of a road or surface 606 in front of themotorcycle 10.

Turning reference to FIG. 14 , the motorcycle 10 may be moving generallyin the direction of an intended path, such as the direction 850. As themotorcycle 10 is moving in the direction of 850 the motorcycle 10 may beon the surface 606 with other vehicles. Generally, the motorcycle 10,particularly including a cruise control system, may be traveling on aroad surface. The road surface may be divided into multiple lanes, suchas with lane markers 860. The lane markers may include various features,such as paint on the surface 606, particularly paint that is a differentcolor than the road surface. Other possible road markers 864, 866 mayalso be present such as a shoulder road marker or additional laneindicator markers 864 and 866. For illustration, as illustrated in FIG.14 , the lane markers 860 may identify a separation of a first trafficlane 870 and a second traffic lane 874. The first traffic lane 870 maybe traveling in the same direction as traffic in the second traffic lane874, or the flow of traffic may be contrary to each other, as discussedfurther herein.

In various embodiments, however, the motorcycle 10 may be traveling withor in the lane of traffic 870 with one or more motorcycles such as asecond motorcycle 880, a third motorcycle 884, and a fourth motorcycle888. The motorcycles generally traveling in the same direction and/orlane as the motorcycle 10 that are sensed or identified by the system,such as one or more radar systems as discussed herein, may be referredto as targeted or identified forward motorcycles. Other vehicles ormotorcycles may also be target or identified, but may not be referred toas forward targeted motorcycles if not generally traveling in the samedirection of travel as the motorcycle 10. For example, a fifthmotorcycle 890 may also be present in the second lane of traffic 874. Invarious embodiments, even if traveling in the same direction as themotorcycle 10, the fifth motorcycle 890 may not be a forward targetedmotorcycle as it is not in the same lane as the motorcycle 10.Additionally, as discussed above, other lanes of traffic or possiblelanes of traffic may include a third lane of traffic 876, as discussedabove. According to various embodiments, a car or large vehicle 894 maybe present in the third lane 876 and may also be generally traveling inthe same direction 850, as discussed above.

The motorcycle 10, including the various sensors such as the radarassembly 350 and/or the camera assembly including the lens 800, maysense and/or view the lane 870 in which the motorcycle 10 is travelingincluding the lane indicators 860 and/or 864 and the various othervehicles relative to the motorcycle 10, including the second motorcycle880, the third motorcycle 884, the fifth motorcycle 890, and the largevehicle 894.

During the riding of the motorcycle 10, the motorcycle 10 may be riddenin a single lane, such as the first lane 870 in a staggered formation.In a staggered formation the motorcycle 10 may be traveling along a path900 with the third motorcycle directly in the path 900, but a selecteddistance 901 therefrom. In the staggered formation, the secondmotorcycle 880 is laterally offset, such as to the right, of themotorcycle 10, but in the same lane. Further, the second motorcycle 880may travel along a path 910 with the third motorcycle 884 and belaterally offset therefrom and the fourth motorcycle 888 directly infront of the second motorcycle 880 along the path 910 all within thesame lane. The large vehicle 894 may be laterally offset, such as in thethird lane 876, from any of the motorcycles 10, 880, 884, 888.Additionally, the fifth motorcycle 890 may be in the second lane 874which may be traveling in the same direction or contra to the motorcycle10. Nevertheless, the lane markers 860 separate the first lane 870 fromthe second lane 874.

In various embodiments, therefore, the motorcycle 10 including theselected sensors, such as the radar assembly 350 and/or the cameraassembly 800 may view or determine the lane 870, such as by identifyingthe lane markers 860 and lane markers 864. Within the first lane 870,the selected sensors, such as the radar assembly 350 and/or the camera800, may sense or view the second motorcycle 880 and the thirdmotorcycle 884. As discussed above, the radar assembly 350 may emit theradar signal beam 350 b and detect a reflected radar signal to identifythe selected vehicles external to the motorcycle 10, such as the secondmotorcycle 880, the large vehicle 894, and the fifth motorcycle 890. Itis understood that additional motorcycle or non-motorcycle vehicles maybe in the same or additional lanes as the motorcycle 10, such as thesecond lane 874 or the third lane 876 and those discussed here aremerely exemplary.

For example, the radar assembly 350 may identify the second motorcycle880, the third motorcycle 884, the fifth motorcycle 890, and the largevehicle 894. In addition thereto, or alternatively thereto, the camerasensor 800 may identify the lane markers 860 and 864 to identify thelane 870 in which the motorcycle 10 is traveling. The various inputs maybe provided to a selected processing system, such as the positionprocessor or the cruise control system which may include or beincorporated into the ECU 272. As discussed further herein, the ECU 272may include processors to execute selected instructions forautomatically controlling cruise control in the motorcycle 10, providingfeedback to the rider 200 as discussed above, providing signals to otherdrivers, as also discussed above, or the like.

As illustrated in FIG. 14 , in the first lane 870 a plurality ofmotorcycles, including the first, second, third, and forth motorcycle,or even just a first and second motorcycle 10, 880, may ride in astaggered formation in the single first lane 870. A staggered formation,as is understood by one skilled in the art, may include that twomotorcycles, including the first motorcycle 10 and the second motorcycle880 not riding abreast of one another within the single lane 870, butoffset a selected lateral distance, such as a distance 950 between thelane markers 860, 864 in the first lane 870. In the staggered formation,however, the second motorcycle 880 is a selected distance 960 forward orin front of the first motorcycle 10. If more than two motorcycles, suchas the third motorcycle 884, is in a staggered formation the thirdmotorcycle is also offset a lateral distance 964, which may be the samedistance 950. The third motorcycle 884 may be a distance 968 forward ofthe second motorcycle 880 and the distance 901 forward of the firstmotorcycle 10 along the path 900. Although the offset lateral distances950, 964 may be substantially identical, the forward distance 960 isgenerally less than the distance 901, while it may be the same as thedistance 968. In the staggered formation, any appropriate number ofmotorcycles may travel in the first lane 870, or any other appropriatesingle lane of traffic. The lane may be marked with lane markers, suchas the lane markers 860, 864.

Further, the single lane 870 may be divided into two or more internal orimaginary lane partitions. As illustrated in FIG. 14 the single lane 870may include a first lane partition 870 a, a second lane partition 870 b,and a third lane partition 870 c. The lane partitions 870 a, 870 b, 870c may be imaginary and/or determined by a sensor system, such as aforward facing camera and processor system. The lane partitions 870 a,870 b, 870 c may each generally include about ⅓ of the lane width, suchas the width of the lane 870 that is between the markers 860 and markers864. A motorcycle that is laterally offset is generally at least in adifferent lane partition that the subject motorcycle, such as the secondmotorcycle 880 is laterally offset from the first motorcycle 10.

The radar assembly 350 may emit the beam 350 b into the environmentaround the motorcycle 10 and it may impinge upon or encompass and/or bereflected by at least the second motorcycle 880, the third motorcycle884, the large vehicle 894, and the fifth motorcycle 890. The radarassembly 350, as discussed above, may identify position relative to themotorcycle 10, speed of the various objects, change in speed of thevarious objects, and relative speed to the motorcycle 10. In addition,as discussed above, the forward facing camera 800 may view the forwardpath of the motorcycle 10. In various embodiments the ECU 270 mayinclude a processor that executes instructions to identify variousfeatures of the surface 606 such as the lane markers 860, 864 andobjects in the forward path of the motorcycle 10. Accordingly, thecamera 800 may also acquire an image of the second motorcycle 880, thirdmotorcycle 884, fifth motorcycle 890, and large object or vehicle 894.It is understood, however, selected processor system may be separatefrom, even if in communication with the ECU 272. As noted above, variousdirect connections, BUS data communications, and others are possible forcommunication between the sensors, such as the radar sensor 350, and oneor more processors.

In various embodiments, the rider 200 may operate a cruise control onthe motorcycle 10. As discussed above, the cruise control may operate toselectively maintain a speed of the motorcycle 10 that is selected bythe rider 200. The cruise control may be set with one or more switches905 (FIG. 2 ), but may be augmented or changed with manual and/orautomatic input to adjust a speed of the motorcycle 10 to maintain a setdistance, such as the distance 960, from the second motorcycle 880and/or the third distance 901 from the third motorcycle 884.

In various embodiments, therefore, the various sensors of the motorcycle10 may be operated to inform the cruise control or an automatic cruisecontrol of the motorcycle 10 with feedback and/or automatic motorcycleoperations regarding obstructions. The feedback may also be given to therider 200, as discussed above. The feedback to the cruise control,however, may assist in operation of the motorcycle 10 relative to thesecond motorcycle 880 and/or the third motorcycle 884 substantiallyautomatically.

Additionally, even if in an initial staggered riding formation, asillustrated in FIG. 14 , a plurality of motorcycles, such as the firstmotorcycle 10, the second motorcycle 880, and the third motorcycle 884may move or form a substantially single file configuration whenencountering a curve, to form a selected single riding lane or line 870c as illustrated in FIG. 15 . The curved first lane 870 c may include orbe defined by curved lane markers 860 c and 864 c. The first motorcycle10 may be positioned substantially directly in line or behind the secondmotorcycle 880 a distance 1000 on a substantially identical or selectedsingle path through the curve of the curved first lane 870 c. Similarly,the third motorcycle 884 may be a distance 1004 in front of or forwardof the second motorcycle 880. In the situation where a plurality ofmotorcycles are traveling around the curve 870 c, therefore, theplurality of motorcycles may be in or move to a substantially singlepath until a straight portion of the first lane 870 is encountered againand the stagger formation is reformed. Accordingly, in a changingsituation where the second motorcycle 880 moves from an offset position,such as offset by the distance 950 to an offset that is substantiallyzero, relative to the first motorcycle 10, the distance 960 of the firstmotorcycle 10 from the second motorcycle 880 may change to the distance1000. The change in riding configuration, however, may not require anindication to the rider 200 that a collision is possible or eminentbetween the motorcycle 10 and an object in front of the motorcycle 10,such as the second motorcycle 880. When the change in formation occurs,feedback to drastically change a speed of the motorcycle 10 to the rider200 need not be given. The cruise control system may automatically lowerthe cruise control speed to achieve the distance 1000, which may besubstantially identical to the distance 901, which is a distance betweentwo motorcycles on a single intended path. The speed may change with achanging the engine speed, such as via the ECU 272, and/or theapplication of a selected braking force such as via the brakecontroller.

With reference to FIG. 16A and FIG. 16B, and continuing reference toFIGS. 14 and 15 , the motorcycle 10 may include an adaptive orintelligent cruise control that may operate according to the flowchart1100 as illustrated in FIG. 16A and FIG. 16B. In the flowchart 1100, theprocess begins in start block 1104 and then to a determination oranalysis block 1106 to determine whether the adaptive cruise control(ADC) is on or off. It is understood that the start block 1104 may beentered upon ignition of the motorcycle 10, the motorcycle 10 achievinga selected speed (e.g. 10 mph), or other appropriate start criterion.Accordingly, the process 1100 may be operated or executed by a processorin the ECU 272, or other appropriate processor system. Generally, theECU 272 may be in communication with a cruise control system to operatethe engine 40 at a selected speed. Further, the ADC may be incommunication with one or more controllers for the braking systems 72.In various embodiments, however, the process 1100 may be incorporatedinto instructions and/or a logic that is executed by the processorsystem in the ECU 272 or other appropriate processor system.

If the ADC is determined to be off in block 1106, an OFF path 1110 isfollowed back to the start block 1104. It is understood that a selectedof a non-ADC may also be made that is not explicitly included within theflowchart 1100. The non-ADC may operate as a commonly known cruisecontrol that attempts to maintain a selected speed of the motorcycle.The flow path 1100 may be understood to be a loop, according to variousembodiments, upon operation of the motorcycle 10.

If the cruise control is determined to be on, such as selected by theuser or programed by the rider 200, an ON path 1114 is followed to adetermination block 1120 to determine whether a cruise control systemand/or sensor error is present. The sensor error may include the radarassembly 350 that is not sending or receiving a signal or other errorstate. It is further understood that other sensors that may beincorporated into the cruise control method 1100 may also have errorstates. If errors from the sensors are detected, then receiving oraltering the cruise control based upon the sensor is stopped and a YESpath 1124 is followed to the start block 1104. According to variousembodiments, if a sensor error is determined an indication may beprovided to the rider 200, such as with the display device 160. Further,additional warning indicators or error indicators may be provided to therider 200 such as with selected LED's or warning lights. Nevertheless,if errors are in the sensor assemblies, the YES path 1124 is followed sothe cruise control is not altered by inputs from the assemblies.

If no error is found in the sensor assemblies, a NO path 1130 isfollowed. As discussed above, the rider 200 may operate the cruisecontrol to turn the cruise control on to select a selected speed, suchas select initial or set speed in block 1132. The set initial speed inblock 1132 may be desired or selected by the rider 200, but may beaugmented or changed by an intelligent or adaptive cruise control, asdiscussed herein, such as according to the flowchart 1100.

After receiving a set initial speed in block 1132, the method 1100 mayconfirm or reconfirm that the adaptive cruise control is on or selectedin block 1133. If the adaptive cruise control is off, an OFF path 1133 amay be followed to initiate the process 1100 again in start block 1104.If it is determined (such as confirming an input from the rider 200 foroperation of the adaptive cruise control) that the adaptive cruisecontrol is on, an ON path 1133 b path may be followed to determinewhether a set speed has been updated in block 1134. If the set speed hasbeen updated or changed, a YES path 1134 a may be followed such that themost recent set speed may be store in block 1135. If the set speed hasnot been updated a NO path 1134 b or once the new set speed has beensaved in block 1135, a path to recall target follow criteria in block1137 is followed, as discussed herein.

The selected speed selected by the rider 200 may be a desired speed thatis augmented by the flowchart 1100 to maintain or achieve selectedfollowing distances, such as the following distance 960, illustrated inFIG. 14 , with the following distance 1000 illustrated in FIG. 15 .Accordingly the cruise control adaptive system according to theflowchart 1100 may recall target following criteria A and B. The targetfollowing criteria A and B need not be absolute or discrete criteria,such as distances, but may include a range or have a tolerance. Thefollowing criteria A and B, as discussed further herein, may includelength or physical distances such as measured in feet or meters. Thefollowing criteria or target criteria may also and/or alternativelyinclude time(s) based upon distance and speed or relative speed betweentwo objects, such as the first motorcycle 10 and the second motorcycle880. Accordingly, as discussed above, the distance 960 between the firstmotorcycle 10 and the second motorcycle 880 may be a distance that couldbe traveled in a selected amount of time, such as about 1 second toabout 3 seconds, including about 1 seconds, based upon the current orinstantaneous speed of the motorcycle 10 relative to the object, such asthe first motorcycle 880. The distance 910 between the first motorcycle10 and the third motorcycle 884 may be a distance that could be traveledby the first motorcycle 10 at its instantaneous or current speedrelative to the third motorcycle 884 in a time of about 2 seconds toabout 6 seconds, including about 2 seconds.

Accordingly the distance that may be the following distance or targetdistances, e.g. the distances 960 and 901, may also be referred to orunderstood to be time or an amount of time required for the motorcycle10, or other respective motorcycles, to travel the physical distance 960or 901. For example, the distance 901 can be determined to be 2 secondsand if the motorcycle 10 is traveling at 70 mph the length or distance901 would need to be about 200 feet to about 220 feet, including about204 feet. It is understood, however, if the motorcycle 10 slowed to aslower rate of speed, such as about 35 mph, the distance 910 may be lessbut would still maintain the following distance or time of 2 seconds.Accordingly, as discussed further herein, the distance or time betweentwo vehicles, such as the motorcycle 10 and the second motorcycle 880and/or the third motorcycle 884 may be generally referred to as acriteria which may include a target following criteria. The targetfollowing criteria may include a length or length distance that is thedistance 910 and/or 960 or a selected time that may be the targetfollowing criteria that would be based upon a speed of the motorcycle 10relative to the other vehicles, including the second motorcycle 880 andthe third motorcycle 884.

The target following criteria A may include the distance between themotorcycle 10 and the first motorcycle 880, or any motorcycle or objectclosest in the lane to the first motorcycle 10. The following criteria Bmay include the distance between the motorcycle 10 and the secondmotorcycle 884, or any vehicle or object that is directly in an intendedpath 900 of the first motorcycle 10. As discussed above, the motorcycle10 may have an intended path that is a distance 901 from the thirdmotorcycle 884 when the second motorcycle 880 is offset the distance 950from the first motorcycle 10. In various situations, however, the secondmotorcycle 880 may move into the intended path of the first motorcycle10, as illustrated in FIG. 15 . The recalled target follow criteria inblock 1137 may be stored on a selected memory system and recalled by aselected processor, within the flowchart 1100. As discussed herein, thetarget following criteria may include criteria that are used tocalculate a specific distance or speed dynamically with the processor onand/or accessed with a system on the motorcycle 10.

The recall target criteria in block 1137 may also include recalling aselected or desired following time, as noted above, that may be basedupon a relative speed of the motorcycle 10 to the objects or vehicles infront of the motorcycle 10 (e.g. the second motorcycle 880 and the thirdmotorcycle 884) and/or the absolute (e.g. relative to ground) speed ofthe motorcycle 10. Accordingly, recalling the target criterial in block1137 may include recalling a following time of 1 second to a nearestmotorcycle, such as the second motorcycle 880, and a two secondfollowing time relative to a further motorcycle, such as the thirdmotorcycle 884. Thus recalling criteria in block 1137 may includerecalling a selected length distance, following time, or otherappropriate criteria.

The processor assembly may also determine a lane in block 1140. Thedetermination of the lane in block 1140 may be based upon variousinterpretation, and may only be optionally determined. For example, thecamera 800 on the motorcycle 10 may be used to provide an indication ofthe lane markers 860 and 864. The first lane 870 may then be determinedbetween the respective lane markers 860, 864.

Nevertheless, determination of the selected vehicles and/or followcriteria may not be required in the flowchart 1100. Accordingly,determining the lane in block 1140 is not required, and may be selectedonly in various embodiments.

Further, the determined lane may be subdivided in block 1140 todetermine lane partitions, as discussed above. For example, the ADC maydetermine segments or lane partitions, such as half or thirds of thedetermined lane, such as the first lane 870, or specific widthsdistances (e.g. 4 feet) within the lane 870. Generally, a lane may bedetermined as an area or distance between lane markers and/or a side ofa road and lane makers. The system may then determine that a vehicle,such as the second motorcycle 880 should be at a selected followingcriteria, such as the target criteria A as long as the motorcycle 880 iswithin a portion of the lane, such as a half, that is not in the path ofthe first motorcycle 10. Thus, lane sub-division may be used to assistin determining a selected target following criteria relative to selectedvehicles within the lane 870.

Following the optional determination of the lane in block 1140, adetermination of whether a vehicle is detected or target vehicle isdetected forward of the motorcycle 10 in block 1142. If no vehicle isdetected in block 1142 (e.g. as with the radar sensor 350) a NO path1152 may be followed to send cruise control “plus” (i.e. increase speedset amount) or “minus” (i.e. decrease speed a set amount) signals toachieve a selected speed in block 1156. The cruise control, if includingthe adaptive cruise control method 1100, may achieve the selected speedbased upon the output from the flowchart 1100. Accordingly, if no morethan one vehicle or if no vehicles are sensed or detected in front ofthe motorcycle 10, the output in block 1156 may include a selected plusor minus cruise control signal to achieve the determined speed andfollow criteria relative to the single vehicle if detected or to justachieve the selected speed if no vehicle is detected. If no more thanone or no vehicle is detected, following the signal sent from block1156, the method may loop to the determination block 1133 of whether theadaptive cruise control is selected ON or OFF. The method may thencontinue from there, as discussed herein.

If a vehicle is detected, a YES path 1144 may be followed to determineif more than one vehicle is detected, particularly more than one vehicleis detected in block 1150 in the lane, then a YES path 1160 is followedto recall the target criteria and be in block 1162. The recalling of thetarget distances in block 1162 may be the same criteria recalled inblock 1164, but may be recalled if more than one vehicle is detected.Accordingly, after detecting whether more than one vehicle is present ina lane, or at a selected position relative to the motorcycle 10, theprocess 1100 may make a determination of whether either of the more thanone vehicles is offset from the motorcycle 10 in block 1170. Asdiscussed above, in a staggered formation as illustrated in FIG. 14 , atleast one of the motorcycles, such as the second motorcycle 880, may beoffset the distance 960 from the motorcycle 10.

If no motorcycle is determined to be offset, a NO path 1174 may befollowed and an output or signal block 1176 may be followed to achieveor send a cruise control signal to achieve the target criteria B fromthe closest vehicle in block 1176. Similarly, if no second vehicle isdetected a NO path 1177 may be followed from the determination block1150 to the send signal block 1176. After sending the cruise controlsignal in block 1176, a loop path 1204 may be followed to restart themethod 1100 in start block 1104 and/or to the determination block 1133to determine whether the adaptive cruise control is selected to be ON orOFF. Based on the selection, the method 1100 may continue form there asdiscussed herein.

As illustrated in FIG. 15 , even if more than one vehicle is detectedthe target follow criteria may achieve or be selected relative to theclosest vehicle, such as the second motorcycle 880, to maintain orachieve the criteria 1000. Again the achievement of the selecteddistance 1000, which may be the same as the distance 901 illustrated inFIG. 14 , may be made and the system may continue to receive inputsregarding whether there is more than one vehicle in the lane in block1150 and to further determine whether the vehicles are offset in block1170. Further, the lean angle of the motorcycle 10 may be used to assistin determining whether the motorcycle 10 is in a turn or curve and, ifso, switch from determining whether a second vehicle is to be detectedto a single. As noted above, a staggered motorcycle riding formationgenerally moves to a single file in a curve. A lean angle above aselected amount, e.g. about 10 degrees in a selected direction, may bedetermined to be a turn in the selected direction.

If it is determined that the vehicles are offset in block 1170, a YESpath 1180 is followed to a dual determination block 1190 to measure thefollowing distance from the first vehicle 880, which may be the targetcriteria A and to measure the distance from the second vehicle 884 whichmay be the target criteria B. Again, it is understood, that the firstand second motorcycles 880, 884 and their respective target criteria aremerely exemplary for the current discussion and the illustration of theflowchart 1100. Nevertheless, once the respective criteria from thefirst motorcycle and the second motorcycle 880, 884 are measured theymay be compared to the target criteria A and target criteria B.Therefore, the measured criteria from block 1190 may be input to adetermination block 1194 to determine whether the first vehicle ormotorcycle 880 is closer than the target criteria in block 1194. If thefirst vehicle, such as the first motorcycle 880, is closer than thetarget criteria A then a YES path 1196 may be followed to send a cruisecontrol minus command in block 1200. The cruise control minus commandmay be to slow or send a minus signal to the cruise control system at aselected amount, such as lower speed by 1 mph, 2 mph or any appropriatespeed reduction. The change in speed may be due to changing an enginespeed, such as with the ECU 272. Further, or in addition thereto, thecruise control minus signal may be provided as a feedback to the rider200 (such as an indication on the panel 150) to slow to achieve apreselected target criteria and the engine 40 is not changed. Thesending of the cruise control minus signal in block 1200 may be anyappropriate number of minus signal to achieve the selected targetcriteria A.

If the first vehicle is not closer than the target distance A, then a NOpath 1208 may be followed from the determination block 1194 to adetermination block 1214 to determine whether the second vehicle, suchas the third motorcycle 884, is closer than the target distance B inblock 1214. Similarly, after sending of the cruise control minus signalin block 1200 the method may continue to the determination block 1214.If the second vehicle, such as the third motorcycle 884 is closer thanthe target criteria B, then a YES path 1220 may be followed to send aminus cruise control in block 1221 until the target criteria B isachieved, in a manner as discussed above. Following sending the cruiseminus in block 1221, the method 1100 may follow the loop 1204 to thedetermination block 1133. The method 1100 may then proceed as discussedherein.

If the second car or vehicle is not closer than the target distance B, aNO path 1228 may be followed to a determination block 1229 to determinewhether the current speed is greater than the set speed. Thedetermination may be made by comparing (such as by executinginstructions with a processor in the ECU) the determined current speedand the set speed in block 1132 or 1135. If the current speed isdetermined to be greater than the set speed, a YES path 1229 a isfollowed to a send cruise control minus signal to achieve the set speedin block 1230. Once the cruise control signal is sent, the method maythen proceed along path 1204 and loop to the determination block 1133,as discussed herein.

If the determination in block 1229 is that the current speed is lessthan (e.g. not greater than) the set speed, a NO path 1229 b may befollowed to a determination block 1232 of whether the second motorcycle880 or the third motorcycle 884 are at the respective target criteria Aand B. If the second and third motorcycles 880, 884 are at therespective criteria A and B, a YES path 1236 may be followed to amaintain speed block 1238. The maintain speed block 1238 may not sendeither a plus or a minus cruise control signal and the loop 1204 may befollowed to the determination block 1133, and the method 1100 mayproceed as discussed herein.

If, however, the target criteria between the motorcycle 10 and either ofthe second motorcycle 880 or the third motorcycle 884 is not achieved oris less than the target criteria (e.g. shorter distance or less time), aNO path 1242 may be followed. The NO path 1242 may go to a determinationblock 1243 to first determine is the set initial speed (i.e. block 1132)is met.

If the current speed is at or less than the set initial speed a YES path1244 path may be followed to send a cruise control plus signal in block1246. The cruise control plus signal may be an appropriate signal thatis to increase the speed of the motorcycle 10 to the set speed that hasbeen recalled from block 1132 or block 1135. Following the send cruisecontrol plus signal in block 1246, the loop process 1204 may be enteredto return to block 1133 and the method 1100 may proceed from there, asdiscussed herein.

If the current speed is determined to not be less than (i.e. greaterthan) the initial set speed 1132 or the save speed in block 1135 then aNO path 1245 may be followed to send a cruise control minus commandand/or a cruise control maintain speed in block 1238 to slow or maintainthe speed of the motorcycle 10. Once the appropriate signal has beensent to the adaptive cruise control system, the method 1100 may enterthe loop process 1204 from the block 1238 to block 1133, as discussedherein.

As discussed above, if the motorcycle 10 is too close to any of therespective vehicles, such as the second motorcycle 880 or the thirdmotorcycle 884, the flowchart 1100 may cause a cruise control minuscommand in block 1200, 1230. Accordingly, the cruise control pluscommand in block 1246 may only be sent when it is determined that themotorcycle 10 is too far (e.g. a distance or time greater than aselected target criteria) from the forward motorcycles, also referred toas the targeted or system identified forward motorcycles.

Again, the send cruise control plus signal may include providing anindication, such as a visual indication on the panel 150 and/or display160, to the rider 200 to increase speed to achieve a preselected (i.e.target) distance. The signal may also be a selected signal thatautomatically increases the speed of the motorcycle 10, such as sent tothe ECU to operate the throttle control. After sending the cruisecommand plus command in block 1246, however, the loop path may befollowed to initiate the method again at start 1104.

In the motorcycle 10, as discussed above, a plurality of the sensors,such as the sensor 350 and the sensor 250 are may be included. It isunderstood, however, that additional sensors may be provided to acquireadditional environmental information relative to the motorcycle 10. Forexample, two or more radar assemblies may be directed at relative anglesto the long axis 101 of the motorcycle 10. The additional radarassemblies, or selected sensor assemblies, may provide additional orredundant information regarding positions, speed, etc. of objects in anenvironment (e.g. external) of the motorcycle 10.

Accordingly, the motorcycle 10 may include the intelligent or adaptivecruise control method or process illustrated in 1100 to achieve thetarget follow criteria between the motorcycle 10 and vehicles, such asrespective motorcycles including the second motorcycle 880, and thethird motorcycle 884 that are forward of the first motorcycle 10.

The various send cruise control signals may include sending anindication to the rider 200 to slow or increase speed. Such indicationsmay include visual indications with the display 160 and/or lights.Further, the haptic feedback system 450 may provide further indications.Also, the ADC may further have included limitations where an automaticslowing of the motorcycle may occur to a selected speed when themotorcycle 10 is in a selected gear, but an indication is given to therider 200 when a slower speed is needed, but the motorcycle is in toohigh a gear. For example, the ADC in method 1100 has determined that themotorcycle 10 should slow to less than 20 mph, but the motorcycle is in4^(th) gear. In such an instance, an indication may be sent to the rider200 to manually shift and slow the motorcycle 10 rather than the ADCautomatically slowing the motorcycle such as with slowing the engine.

FIGS. 16A and 16B illustrate a process or method 1100 for an adaptivecruise control system to control the speed of a motorcycle 10, accordingto various embodiments. The cruise control or adaptive cruise control ofthe process 1100 illustrated in FIGS. 16A and 16B, may be augmented oradapted to include a cut-out or pre-loop sequence 1300 illustrated inFIG. 17 . For example, the method 1300 may be inserted or read out frommemory, wherein the method is encoded as instructions to be executed bya selected processor, in the loop 1204 prior to executing block 1133. Itis understood, however, that the process 1300 may also be a separateprocess that is independent of the method 1100.

In the selected process 1300, it may be optionally selected to performan additional determination or consideration prior to sending a speedincrease or a cruise control plus signal to the cruise control systemfor the motorcycle 10 to increase the speed of the motorcycle 10. Asillustrated in FIG. 16A, if a cruise plus or increase cruise speedsignal is sent, such as from block 1246, the signal may enter theselective loop or determination 1300, as illustrated in FIG. 17 . Theprocess 1300, therefore, is operable to determine whether the motorcycleis cornering at speed or is already at a lean angle at or above athreshold in block 1310. For example the IMU 650 and/or lean anglesensors 600 may provide input or signals that may be used to determinewhether the motorcycle is leaning for a turn or in a curve. In addition,as discussed above, various lean angle systems may be used to assist anddetermine the lean angle of the motorcycle 10. If the motorcycle isleaning at a an angle greater than a selected threshold, such as aboutgreater than 10 degrees from vertical relative to a road surface, themotorcycle's 10 cruise control system may be used to determine that themotorcycle 10 is leaning or in a curve. Further, an amount of handle barturn and/or determined angle from the lean determination systems (e.g.IMU 650 or sensors 600) may be used to determine that the motorcycle 10is leaned and/or in a curve. Also, it may be determined to furtheraccess the speed of the motorcycle 10 while leaning. For example, if thespeed is greater than about 5 mph it may be determined that themotorcycle is at a selected speed or above a selected threshold speedfor turning or in a curve.

If it is determined that the motorcycle is cornering or in a turn at aselected speed, a YES path 1314 may be followed and the increase speedor cruise control plus signal is not sent (e.g. blocked to terminated)to the cruise control in block 1320. By not sending the increase speedsignal to the cruise control in block 1320, the speed of the motorcycle10 may be maintained or selected manually by the rider 200. This mayassist in ensuring that the speed of the motorcycle is maintained at aselected speed in a curve. It may also be used to ensure that a changespeed of any type is not sent to the cruise control, such that aselected speed is maintained to assist in maintaining balance andcontrol of the motorcycle 10 during the cornering or leaning procedure.

For example, while operating the motorcycle 10, the rider 200 mayselected to corner a selected curve at a selected speed. If themotorcycle is in a curve, however, and the adaptive cruise controlprocess 1100 determines that the motorcycle should increase or decreasein speed, the rider 200, while cornering, may not desire or select tohave the speed of the motorcycle change. Therefore, the adaptive cruisecontrol 1100 may apply the optional process 1300 to maintain the speedof the motorcycle 10 at the speed, such as manually, by the rider 200.

If it is determined that the motorcycle is not leaning and/or corneringin block 1310, a NO path 1330 may be followed. If the No path 1330 isfollowed, the send or transmit command to change the speed to theadaptive cruise control may be made in block 1334. Accordingly, if it isdetermined that the motorcycle is not leaned at or above a selectedthreshold angle and/or not cornering, the change of speed command may besent to the cruise control as discussed above, such as in the process1100.

Accordingly, the selected lean and/or cornering process 1300 may be usedto assist in achieving a selected stability of the motorcycle 10 whilecornering and/or leaning. The optional process 1300, therefore, may beused to ensure that the motorcycle 10 is maintained in a stable andselected speed during a turn and/or maneuvering a curve and achievestability and confidence in the motorcycle 10.

As discussed above, the motorcycle 10 may travel relative to one or morevehicles, such as the object 360, as illustrated in FIG. 12A and FIG.12B, which may be a four-wheel vehicle, such as a car with a passengercompartment. It is understood, however, that the forward vehicle mayalso be other types of vehicles, such as a large tractor-trailer (alsoreferred to as a semi-truck), small truck, sedan vehicle, or the like.As also illustrated in FIG. 14 , the motorcycle 10 may travel relativeto a large vehicle or object such as the large object 894 and/or one ormore smaller vehicles such as motorcycles, including the motorcycles880, 890, and 884. Therefore, the motorcycle 10 may travel a selecteddirection, such as the direction 850, as illustrated in FIG. 14 ,relative to one or more vehicles such as a four or more wheel vehicle,such as a large object 894, and less than four wheels such as othermotorcycles, including the motor cycles 880, 890.

The motorcycle 10 may include various sensors systems. Sensor systemsmay include one or more of a front and/or rear facing radar systems,such as the radar assembly 350 as illustrated in FIG. 2 . Sensor systemsmay also or alternatively include a front, side, and other directionfacing camera such as the camera 170 and/or more than one camera 170, asalso illustrated in FIG. 4 . In addition, various other sensors may beprovided on the motorcycle 10 such as a LIDAR system, lean anglesensors, and the like. Nevertheless, as discussed above, the varioussensors (e.g. radar, camera, LIDAR) may be provided with the motorcycle10 and used to sense conditions and/or objects relative to themotorcycle 10 to allow for providing feedback to the rider 200 of themotorcycle 10. The rider feedback system may be a rider assist system.

The various systems may provide an indication and/or an identificationof other objects relative to the motorcycle 10. For example, sensing theobject 894 may be able to identify the object 894 as a semi-trucktraveling relative to the motorcycle 10. As also discussed above, thedistance of the object 894 relative to the motorcycle 10 may bedetermined including, for example, based upon a rate of speed of themotorcycle 10 relative to the object 894 determining a time of travel toreach the object 894 based on a difference in speed, if present, of themotorcycle 10 and the object 894. For example, the system may determinea time of travel for the motorcycle 10 to reach the object 894 is therelative speed of the motorcycle 10 is faster than that of the object894. Further, the various systems and sensors may be used to identifyother objects such as the other motorcycles, such as the motorcycles890, 880 and also identify distances and times of travel to these aswell. Each of the vehicles may be referred to as a vehicle type and maybe predetermined (e.g., stored with a memory and recalled) andidentified based on sensor signals from the sensor based on sensedinput.

In various embodiments, as discussed above, the sensors may be used forvarious purposes such as to sense positions of various objects, speedand/or relative speed of various objects, control an adaptive cruisecontrol based thereon, and other features. In addition, the varioussensors may be used to identify the various objects and provide warningsto the rider 200. The sensors may also or alternatively provide arelative or selected travel distance relative to the other objects in adirection of travel and/or relative to the motorcycle 10 based uponidentification of the various objects.

Turning reference to FIG. 18A and FIG. 18B, the motorcycle 10 mayinclude various portions, such as those discussed above, including thefairing components 20 which may include various portions on the riderfacing surface 150. For example, one or more gauges, including atachometer, speedometer or the like may be provided as the gauges 152,154. The handle bar 24 may extend relative to the rider facing console150 of the fairing 20. The handle bar 24 may include various componentssuch as one or more rider controls including the throttle 54 and grips68. One or more buttons or switches 1410 may be provided at a controlmodule 1414 which may be provided one or more of the hand-grips 68.Further, the motorcycle 10 including the fairing assembly 20, or otherappropriate assembly, being included the control module 1414 and/orother controls such as the display 160. The display 160 may includevarious touch sensitive portions such as touch sensitive portions of thescreen 160. In addition, as noted above, various control buttons may beprovided relative to the screen 160. Accordingly manipulation of one ormore of the buttons such as a control module 1414, the manual or hardbuttons 162 relative to the screen 160, and/or touch portions of thescreen 160 may be used to provide input from the rider 200 to thesystem.

It is understood, however, in various embodiments, such as illustratedin FIGS. 19A and 19B that a motorcycle 10′ may not include the fairingcomponent 20. The motorcycle 10′, however, may include various portionssimilar to those discussed above including the engine 40 and othervarious portions. Further the motorcycle 10′ may include the controlmodule 1414 that includes one or more of the switches 1410 that may beused to provide input to the various systems. The motorcycle 10′ mayinclude one or more displays 1420. The display 1420 may include eitherall digital and/or digital and analog components. For example, an analogneedle 1424 may be provided that is a true analog needle and/or digitaldisplay. Further the display 1420 may include a digital display 1430that may display text for input and/or output to the rider 200.Therefore the motorcycle 10′ may include the display module 1420 thatmay include the digital display 1430. The digital display may includeidentical and/or similar information as a user interface (UI) as thescreen 160. In various embodiments, the digital display 1430 may includea simplified UI, but include or display all information as the screen160, as discussed herein.

In various embodiments, the rider assist system may include a selectablefollowing distance and/or various warning features. The features may becombined into a single system and operate substantially simultaneouslyand/or operate separately, as discussed herein. In various embodiments,however, the system may include a following distance input 1440.

The following distance input 1440, as illustrated in FIGS. 18A and 18B,may include a selection or system to allow selection by the rider 200 toselect a following distance relative to one or more vehicles, such aswith various inputs as discussed above. In various embodiments, therider 200 may select a default riding distance 1444 that may be selectedwhen a vehicle may not be identified and/or for determination of adistance relative thereto for other vehicle types. The system mayinclude and/or have predetermined a minimum following distance that maybe determined or displayed as a following time, following distance, orcombinations thereof. For example, as illustrated in FIG. 18B, thedefault distance may include a safety or minimum distance 1448. Invarious embodiments, the minimum following distance or the defaultfollowing distance may be two seconds which may be identified by −2. Therider 200 may select a different default distance, such as four secondsillustrated by the indication or dot 1452. It is understood that anyappropriate UI may be provided. The UI may include indications or inputsthat are provided as numbers, graphical representations (e.g., FIG.18B), words (e.g., FIG. 19B), combinations therefor, or the like. Thegraph is illustrated in FIG. 18B is merely exemplary.

The rider 200 may provide inputs, such as relative to the defaultfollowing distance the rider 200 may select a following distance forvarious types of vehicles. For example, a following distance for amotorcycle or two-wheeled vehicle may be indicated at 1456, a followingdistance for a small vehicle, such as a small four-wheeled vehicle 1460may be made, a following distance for a larger four-wheel vehicle at1464 may be made, and a following distance for a large vehicle, such asa semi or tractor trailer truck may be made at 1468.

The various following distances may be absolute relative to each of thetypes of vehicles and/or relative to the default 1444. As also discussedabove, the following distances may be provided as absolute distances,times of travel, or the like. For example, the rider 200 may input aselection indicator 1472 relative to the motorcycle indication 1456 thatmay be plus three (+3) relative to the default. These may also bereferred to as offsets relative to the default following distance. Thesemay also include or be referred to as specific target distances for eachvehicle type. Therefore, the rider 200 may identify to follow themotorcycle or a motorcycle specific vehicle identified forward of theridden motorcycle 10 by one second, that being the difference betweenthe default and identified following distance by the rider in the riderfollowing distance selection 1440. The selection may be made byoperation of the controls with the control module 1414, the manualbuttons 162 and/or the touch screen 160 or other appropriate input, suchas verbal input.

The input of the following distance may be based upon a selection and/orinput by the rider 200. The system may then identify vehicle types, suchas a motorcycle 880, during operation of the motorcycle 10. For example,the motorcycle 880 that may be forward of the position of the motorcycle10 and set a following distance of one second relative thereto based onthe rider input 200. As also discussed above the following distance maybe set based upon a distance, therefore the following distance may beset at a selected discrete distance, such as about forty meters.

Following distances may also or alternatively be set for various vehicletypes that are different than the motorcycle indication 1456. Forexample, a car vehicle type 1460 may have a rider input indicator 1476,while the system may also identify a minimum or selected minimumfollowing distance such as not allowing the rider to select a distanceor following distance of less than plus 2 and therefore providing anddisplaying a selected margin 1480. The selected margin may be providedso that the rider 200 does not inadvertently select a following distancewithin the margin and/or requires a further input by the rider to selecta margin. Nevertheless, the rider may select a distance of about 1.5seconds relative to the default, therefore, reducing the followingdistance relative to the car vehicle type 1460 to about 2.5 seconds.Regardless, the selected following distance/time may be dynamic andbased upon system or initial defaults, rider input, or other selectedinputs.

Other vehicle types may include a truck type noted at the indicator1464. The rider 200 may provide an input 1484 may be set about 0.5seconds and also a margin 1488 may be indicated and provided. Furtherregarding a large vehicle type 1468, such as a tractor trailer, therider indicator 1492 may be indicated at −2, therefore, adding anadditional two seconds relative to the default 1444. Regarding, thelarge vehicles 1468 the restricted region indication 1496 may be largerthan for the other vehicles.

Accordingly the user or rider 200 may select a following distance thatmay be different for different identified vehicle types. The rider mayselected a distance/time based upon system or initial defaults, riderinput, or other selected inputs. Further, the system defaults may bedetermined an provided as unchangeable minimums and/or allowed to beaugmented by the rider. As discussed above, the various systems thatassist the rider 200, such as the radar 252, may be used to identifyvehicles relative to the motorcycle 10 based upon the identification ofthe vehicles relative to the motorcycle 10 the rider 200 mayindividually select following distances and have them input. Theadaptive cruise control may then be automatically altered to achieve theselected following distances during a ride with the motorcycle 10.

In other words, many different vehicle types may be predetermined and/orpredefined, such as those noted above. The rider 200 may provide aninput to select a following distance for one or more of each vehicletype. The following distance may be different for each vehicle type. Thedifferent vehicle types may be predetermined and/or predefined and savedand/or recalled, such as from a memory system include those discussedabove. The various sensors may sense objects in the environment andselected instructions may be executed with a processor module or systemto identify the objects as vehicle types that are predetermined orpredefined. The processor may then recall the input following distanceand the motorcycle 10 may be controlled to achieve the followingdistance, if selected and as discussed herein. In various embodiments,the rider 200 may provide the input and selections with a graphicalinput relative to a representation of the ridden motorcycle 10 i on thedisplay 160.

The system may be used to select a following distance relative tovarious vehicle types that may different from one another, as discussedabove. The following distance may be maintained by selecting orcontrolling a speed of the motorcycle 10 relative to objects, such asother vehicles, exterior to the motorcycle 10. In various embodiments,the system may also provide various alerts and/or feedback to the rider200, such as the visual and/or haptic feedback, as discussed above. Thefeedback may include a forward collision or detection, a lane change orside blind spot, or other appropriate warnings. The alerts may also beprovided for various different vehicle types, and may vary for eachvehicle type.

Turning reference to FIG. 20 , for example, the display 160 may displaya warning or alert display selection 1500. The alert may be a forwardcollision warning, as illustrated in FIG. 20 . It is understood,however, that the selection of alerts for each vehicle type may relateto any appropriate alerts, as discussed above, including lane change,blind spot detection, rear approach, or the like. Regardless, thevarious different types of vehicles, such as a motorcycle vehicle 1456,a sedan or a small car vehicle 1460, a small truck 1464, a large truckor tractor trailer 1468 may be identified and distinguished by thesystem and various warnings may be differentiated relative thereto. Asdiscussed above, various types of vehicles may be identified withvarious systems with the motorcycle 10, such as the radar 252.Identification for the different vehicles may allow for distinguishingof determining a following distance, as discussed above, with thefollowing distance input 1440. The feedback provided to the rider 200may also be differentiated based upon the different types of identifiedvehicles, such as with the forward collision warning 1500.

For example, the rider 200 may view the input 1500 including thegraphical representation 10 i of the ridden motorcycle relative to eachof the vehicle types, such as another motorcycle 1456, a small vehicle1460, a larger vehicle or small truck 1464, and a large vehicle 1468.The system may provide a forward collision warning for selected vehicletypes and may include a default distance warning, as described above.The rider 200, however, may augment or change relative warnings such asreducing a green zone or range when no warning is provided for amotorcycle in the 1456 input to greater than about 3.5 seconds followingdistance relative to the motorcycle 1456. An initial or first warningmay be provided to the rider 200 when the following distance is betweenabout 3.5 seconds and about 0.5 seconds in following distance. A finalor high warning may be provided when the motorcycle 10 is at a followingdistance 0.5 seconds relative to another motorcycle. The indications maybe provided by the two rider indicators 1510 and 1514. These may also bereferred to as offsets relative to a default or selected alert value(e.g., distance). These may also include or be referred to as specifictarget distances for each vehicle type. Again, the display or userinterface 1500 may be used to provide the rider inputs such as with thetouch screen 160, manual buttons positioned relative thereto 162, orother inputs, such as with the input module 1414. Further the warningdistances may be identified as relative or time intervals, absolutedistances relative to the identified vehicle, or combinations thereof.Accordingly time intervals are merely exemplary.

Additionally, the rider 200 may input intervals for each of the othervehicle types. For example, for the small sedan vehicle 1460 the ridermay input a four second following distance for a no warning, initiatinga first warning at indicator 1520, and a final warning at about 1.5seconds following distance at 1524. Again the system may include aselected minimum following distance for each type of vehicle such as aminimum indicator 1528. The larger vehicle or small truck indicator 1464may include rider indicators as a first warning interval 1530 and about3.5 seconds and a final warning interval at about two seconds at 1534.Again the system may include a minimum recommended distance at 1538.Finally for the large vehicle 1468 the rider may indicate a firstwarning at 1540 at about 5.5 seconds, a second or final warning at 1544at about 4 seconds following distance and the recommended distance maybe indicated by the block 1548.

Therefore the user interface 1500 may allow the rider 200 to indicatewarning intervals at various selected distances relative to eachindividual type of vehicle. It is further understood the system mayidentify further types of vehicles and the motorcycle, small car, smalltruck, and large truck are merely exemplary. Again, the differentvehicle types may be predefined or predetermined and stored for recall.The sensors with the motorcycle 10 may then sense the environment and adetermination of objects as one of the vehicle types may be made.

In addition or alternatively to discrete warning distances, a userinterface 1600 may allow for identifying a more simple output for therider 200. As illustrated in FIG. 21 the system may allow for theidentification of various vehicles such as a motorcycle 1456, a smallcar at 1460, a larger car small truck at 1464, and a large truck ortractor trailer at 1468. Each of the various types of vehicles may beindicated relative to the rider motorcycle 10 i. The rider 200 for eachof the vehicle types may determine whether or not the forward collisionshould be on or off as indicated in button 1610. Again the selectionsmay be made with the touch screen 160, the manual input 162, the inputmodule 1414, or other appropriate inputs. For each of the vehicle typesthe rider 200 may determine or input whether a warning should be at afar distance, a medium distance, a near distance, or off for anindividual vehicle type. For example, the off is indicated at 1612 forthe motorcycle. The rider has selected a medium distance 1614 for thesmall vehicle, a near distance 1620 for the large car small truck 1464and far at 1624 for the large truck and tractor trailer at 1468.Therefore, the system may include preset following distances for each ofthe simplified inputs that may be selected by the rider. Again theinputs may be provided in any appropriate manner, such as thosediscussed above.

Therefore, the rider 200 may input selected following distances andwarning distances. These various distances may be received by the systemand appropriate instructions may be executed or carried out by variousprocessors, as discussed above, to maintain a selected followingdistance such as augmented a speed of the motorcycle 10 and/or providingwarnings at appropriate distances for differently selected vehicles suchas with the inputs 1500, 1600.

As discussed above, the system may be configured to receive input fromthe rider 200 for any of the selected settings or only selectedsettings. For example, the system defaults or minimums may be set to notbe changeable by the rider 200 or allowed to be changed. Also, selectedsettings may be eliminated, such as a “yellow” warning for the forwardcollision warning. Thus, it is understood, that the rider 200 mayprovide inputs to alter the selected settings as selected by the rider200 and/or allowed by the system, such as with preset defaults that mayor may not be changeable.

As discussed above, the various displays or user interfaces may includethe touch screen 160 in the fairing unit 20 and/or other displays suchas the digital display 1430 with the instrument cluster 1420.Accordingly, the various interfaces including the forward alerts orwarnings in the interfaces 1500, 1600 may also be displayed with text ornumbers with the digital display 1430. Thus, the display screen 160 maynot be required to allow for user input to the system of the motorcycle10.

In addition or alternatively, features, such as those discussed above,may be configured via a mobile (e.g., cellular device) application, aninternet based application, a dealer flash programmer, or the like. Forexample, the motorcycle 10 can be connected via a wire or wirelessly(e.g., Bluetooth® communication protocols, Wi-Fi® communicationprotocols, or a cellular connection) to selected external systems, suchas a mobile device or a computer connected to the internet. The systemsaboard the motorcycle 10, therefore, may receive inputs from theexternal devices via these connections. Thus, the inputs, as discussedabove, may be provided by the rider 200 or selected person or system viaa device separate from the motorcycle 10 and the input may betransmitted to the motorcycle 10 and the onboard systems. Also, variousvehicle to vehicle communication systems may be provided to connectand/or provide the inputs.

Further, the motorcycle 10 may include a processor, such as thatdiscussed above which may be included or accessed, such as the processorwithin the engine control unit. It is understood that other processorsmay be provided and that the following distance and/or warning systemmay include a separate or individual processor associated orincorporated with the motorcycle 10. Nevertheless, the processor mayexecute various instruction, as discussed further below, to receive userinputs, determine actuation of various portions of the motorcycle 10 foroperation thereof, and other features.

For example with reference to FIGS. 22A and 22B a process 1700 isillustrated. The process 1700 many include instructions and inputs andactions taken based on inputs to control the speed of the motorcycle 10and achieve a selected following distance. Initially, the system maystart in start block 1710. The process 1700 may start in start block1710 such as powering on the motorcycle 10. A determination that thevehicle speed is not being controlled by the cruise control or adaptivecruise control system may be made in or input in block 1714. The systemor instructions may then make a determination of whether a cruisecontrol is set in block 1718. If a cruise control is not set, a NO path1720 may be followed to loop back to determine or input the setting thatthe vehicle speed is not controlled by the cruise control in block 1714.If a cruise control is set, a YES path 1724 may be followed due to adetermination of whether the adaptive cruise control is set in block1728.

The adaptive cruise control may include the cruise control that altersthe speed of the motorcycle 10 such as based upon various other inputs,including those discussed above (e.g., based on sensors, position, etc.)and/or the following distances discussed herein. Accordingly, if theadaptive cruise control is determined to not have been set, a NO path1732 may be followed to a state/control that the speed is controlled toa user set speed in block 1736. The user or rider 200 may set speed maybe input when it is determined that the cruise control is set in block1718 and a rider set speed is received or recalled in block 1720. Therider 200 may set the cruise control speed at any appropriate time, suchas before or after input of following distances or other settings of thesystem. The rider 200 may set the cruise control speed also duringriding of the motorcycle 10, such as with the control module 1414.Nevertheless, when the adaptive cruise control speed is determined to beoff or not engaged, the NO path 1732 is followed and the motorcycle 10may be controlled to the user set speed in block 1736, such as operationof the motorcycle 10 as discussed above.

If the adaptive cruise control is determined to be set, a YES path 1740may be followed to a determination block of whether a target is found inblock 1744. The determination may be in real time based upon real timesensing by the selected sensors, such as during operation of themotorcycle 10. If a target, such as a vehicle exterior to the motorcycle10 is not found, a NO path 1748 may be followed to control the speed tothe user set speed in block 1736. Accordingly, a target may be aselected vehicle, such as a motorcycle, a car, or other appropriatevehicle type. If no target is found, such as when a road is unobstructedor open for a selected or set distance in front of the motorcycle 10, notarget may be found and the NO path 1748 may be followed.

If a target is found in block 1744, a YES path 1752 may be followed to adetermination of whether the vehicle type has been identified in block1756. The target may be a selected vehicle, as discussed above and maybe determined in block 1744, such as with the radar system. Thedetermination may be in real time based upon real time sensing by theselected sensors, such as during operation of the motorcycle 10. The YESpath 1752 then allows for a determination of whether the vehicle type isable to or has been identified. The type of vehicle may be thoseidentified above, such as a motorcycle, a small car, a tractor trailer,or any appropriate type.

In certain situations, such as with an obstructed sensor, or otherconsiderations a vehicle type may not be able to be determined, while atarget is found in block 1744, and a NO path 1760 is followed. When theNO path 1760 is followed, a target is identified but the specific typemay not be identified in block 1756. Therefore, the process 1700 mayproceed to a determination whether the vehicle or object is within adefault following distance as identified by the system in block 1764.The default distance may be any appropriate distance, such as thatdiscussed above, including a default following distance of two seconds,a specified discrete distance, or the like. The system while not beingable to identify a specific type of vehicle or object, may determinewhether the motorcycle 10 is within the default following distance inblock 1764. If the object is not within the default following distance,a NO path 1768 may be followed and the motorcycle 10 may be controlledat the user set speed in block 1736, as discussed above.

If the target is identified to be within the default following distance,while a specific type of target has not been identified in block 1756, aYES path 1772 may be followed to control the motorcycle 10 to thedefault following distance as long as the set speed is not exceeded inblock 1776. Therefore, the motorcycle 10 may be controlled, as discussedabove, to achieve a selected speed, which may be the set speed and/or adefault following distance. Further, the default following distance orlongest following distance may be input by the rider 200, with thevarious inputs discussed above, in block 1780. The input of the defaultor longest distance may be input at any appropriate time such as atinitiation of the motorcycle 10, at start up following block 1710, or atany other appropriate time. Nevertheless, if a target is identifiedwhile the motorcycle 10 is moving but the type of target or vehiclecannot be identified the motorcycle 10 may be controlled, such ascontrolling the engine 40 thereof, to achieve the default or longestfollowing distance in block 1776 without further input from the rider200.

If the vehicle type is identified in block 1756, a YES path 1790 isfollowed to a determination or recall of a set following distance basedupon an identified vehicle. As discussed above, the user 200 may inputvarious following distances as following distances relative to adefault, fixed distances, following times, or the like. The process1700, therefore, may receive the inputs as an input 1798. The input 1798may be input at any appropriate time, such as at the start orimmediately after the start 1710, during operation of the motorcycle 10,if selected or allowed, or any other appropriate time nevertheless therider 200 may input the various following distances. It is alsounderstood that various default following distances may be provided andthe user 200 may simply identify or select the default followingdistances.

Nevertheless, the following distances may be recalled or determined bythe processor in block 1794. Thereafter a determination of whether thevehicle type is within the specific following distances may be made inblock 1802. The determination may be in real time based upon real timesensing by the selected sensors, such as during operation of themotorcycle 10. If the vehicle type is not within the specific followingdistances, a NO path 1806 may be followed to control the motorcycle 10to the user specified speed in block 1736. For example, as illustratedin FIG. 22B, if a vehicle type of a truck is identified and themotorcycle 10 is greater than four seconds away, the motorcycle is notwithin the vehicle specific following distance and the NO path 1806 maybe followed.

If the vehicle type is identified to be within a vehicle specificdistance, a YES path 1810 may be followed to thereafter set or controlthe vehicle, such as the motorcycle 10, to the specific followingdistance at block 1814. The motorcycle 10 may be controlled to followthe identified or determined vehicle type at the selected followingdistance in block 1814, in real time, as long as the speed does notexceed the set speed and a target is still identified or detected.Accordingly the motorcycle 10 may be controlled continuously at aselected speed to maintain the specific selected following distanceaccording to the process 1700.

After the motorcycle is controlled for a selected time the process 1700may loop to determine whether a target is found again in block 1744. Invarious embodiments, the loop speed may be any appropriate speed, suchas about from milliseconds to minutes, and selected based on variousfactors. Additionally and/or alternatively, the process 1700 may loopand/or receive an input to determine whether the cruise control oradaptive cruise control has been disengaged. Further, the motorcycle 10may be powered off and the system may reset or restart when themotorcycle again is powered on. Therefore, the process 1700 may beexecuted as instruction with a selected processor to control the speedand/or acceleration of the motorcycle 10 to achieve a selected followingdistance for specific or different vehicle types. The inputs regardingthe selected and/or following distances may be input by the rider 200and received as inputs to the system for the process 1700 as discussedabove.

The motorcycle 10, including the various processors as discussed above,may also be operated according to an alert or warning feature process1830. In the alert process 1830 various alerts may be provided to therider 200, such as various haptic feedbacks, audio, visual (e.g., lightsor displays such as the display 160), or other appropriate feedback oralerts. The alerts may be provided to the rider based upon variousinputs from the rider and may be based upon a distance of the motorcycle10 relative to other specific vehicle types, as discussed above.

The process 1830 may begin in start block 1834. The start block 1834 mayinclude initiating operation of the motorcycle 10, starting themotorcycle 10, or the like. After the motorcycle 10 is started in block1834, a state or a switch block may be made to determine that the alertfeatures are or remain inactive in block 1840. Thereafter, adetermination may be made of whether the alert features are enabled inblock 1844. If the alert features are not enabled in block 1844, a NOpath 1848 may be followed to the state block 1840 to maintain the alertfeatures in an inactive state. It is understood that the loop 1848 maybe continued at a selected rate until the alert features are enabledand/or the motorcycle is powered off.

Accordingly, a YES path 1852 may be followed if the alert features areenabled, such as by input by the rider 200. Once the alert features areenabled, a determination of whether a vehicle type has been identifiedmay be made in block 1856. Again the vehicle type may include thevehicle types discussed above, such as a motorcycle, a small car, atractor trailer or the like. The determination may be in real time basedupon real time sensing by the selected sensors, such as during operationof the motorcycle 10. The system may determine the vehicle typeaccording to various techniques, such as with the radar system 252 as isgenerally known in the art. The sensors, such as the radar system 252,may generate sensor signals based on the sensed objects in theenvironment and/or of the motorcycle 10. Thus, the sensor signals may betransmitted for evaluation by the processor, as discussed above, andherein.

If a vehicle type cannot be determined, a NO path 1860 may be followedto a state block 1864 to use default thresholds for alert activations.The various alerts for various features, as discussed above, may includeforward collision, lane change warnings, and the like. These again mayinclude default or minimum thresholds and may be default in the systemand/or selected by the user or rider 200. Accordingly, if the specificvehicle type cannot be identified in block 1856 the NO path 1860 may befollowed to use the default distances in block 1864.

If the vehicle type can be determined, however, a YES path 1868 may befollowed to a determination of whether a user has input or selectedcustom or user selected thresholds in block 1872. The user 200 may setselected threshold distances such as based upon a discrete distance, afollowing time, or the like. If the user has not identified discrete oruser specific distances, a NO path 1876 may be followed to use thedefault thresholds in block 1864.

If the user has selected specific custom thresholds, a YES path 1880 maybe followed to recall or determine the custom user thresholds for alertactivation in block 1884. The inputs may be provided by the user ininput block 1890 and may include those as described above. The inputsmay be input into selected input systems such as the control module1440, the touch screen 160, or other appropriate inputs. The screen 160may be used for a user interface, such as the unit interface 1500, 1600to allow the rider to provide or input user defined or custom alertsettings in block 1890. These may be provided as input that are recalledor determined in block 1884 to set threshold distances. The thresholds,therefore, may be discrete distances, following times, etc. These may berecalled and compared to determined real time values relative to theidentified type of vehicle with the sensors of the motorcycle 10.

The system may activate according to the process 1830 in block 1884 tosend an alert signal. The alert signal may be operate one or more of thealert features (e.g., haptic feedback in the seat, a display with thedisplay 160, a light) to the rider 200. The alert signal may be a firstalert signal based on a first warning or alert, as noted above and/or asecond alert signal based on the second warning of alert, as discussedabove. The first alert may be yellow symbol on the screen 160 and thesecond alert may be a red symbol on the screen 160. Therefore, thesystem may provide one or more alert signals that may be different andprovide various and/or different output to the rider 200.

Accordingly, the process 1830 may allow for the selected thresholds tobe used for control of alerts to the rider 200 regarding differentidentified vehicle types such as by execution of instructions based onthe process 1830. The process 1830 may loop to determine whether thealert features have been enabled in block 1844 after recalling andsetting and using the alert features and/or using the default thresholdfeatures. Therefore, the process 1830 may be in continuous use at aselected rate during operation of the motorcycle 10. At a selected time,however, the process may end at block 1896. Ending in block 1896 mayinclude powering off the motorcycle 10, disengaging the alert system, orother actions. Accordingly, the process 1830 may be a selectedcontinuous loop, such as based upon an appropriate tracking rate and/ormay be ended at various times, such as by the user 200.

One skilled in the art will also understand that a vehicle may beidentified by other than the onboard sensor package discussed above. Thevehicle may be object exterior to the motorcycle that may be identifiedat the exterior motorcycle 1456, tractor trailer 1468, etc. For example,vehicles may communicate with each other directly, such as via a “smarthighway”. Selected communication protocols and systems may allowcommunication directly between multiple vehicles and/or a central ordecentralized communications hub. Communication systems may includethose discussed herein, such as cellular communication systems. In thisscenario, the vehicle would be able to self-identify to surroundingvehicles and/or provide position, speed, etc. This information could beused to classify which warning/following distance classification bestmatches the rider inputs, as discussed above.

Example embodiments are provided so that this disclosure will bethorough, and will fully convey the scope to those who are skilled inthe art. Numerous specific details are set forth such as examples ofspecific components, devices, and methods, to provide a thoroughunderstanding of embodiments of the present disclosure. It will beapparent to those skilled in the art that specific details need not beemployed, that example embodiments may be embodied in many differentforms and that neither should be construed to limit the scope of thedisclosure. In some example embodiments, well-known processes,well-known device structures, and well-known technologies are notdescribed in detail.

Instructions may be executed by a processor and may include may includesoftware, firmware, and/or microcode, and may refer to programs,routines, functions, classes, data structures, and/or objects. The termshared processor circuit encompasses a single processor circuit thatexecutes some or all code from multiple modules. The term groupprocessor circuit encompasses a processor circuit that, in combinationwith additional processor circuits, executes some or all code from oneor more modules. References to multiple processor circuits encompassmultiple processor circuits on discrete dies, multiple processorcircuits on a single die, multiple cores of a single processor circuit,multiple threads of a single processor circuit, or a combination of theabove. The term shared memory circuit encompasses a single memorycircuit that stores some or all code from multiple modules. The termgroup memory circuit encompasses a memory circuit that, in combinationwith additional memories, stores some or all code from one or moremodules.

The apparatuses and methods described in this application may bepartially or fully implemented by a special purpose computer created byconfiguring a general purpose computer to execute one or more particularfunctions embodied in computer programs. The computer programs includeprocessor-executable instructions that are stored on at least onenon-transitory, tangible computer-readable medium. The computer programsmay also include or rely on stored data. The computer programs mayinclude a basic input/output system (BIOS) that interacts with hardwareof the special purpose computer, device drivers that interact withparticular devices of the special purpose computer, one or moreoperating systems, user applications, background services andapplications, etc.

The computer programs may include: (i) assembly code; (ii) object codegenerated from source code by a compiler; (iii) source code forexecution by an interpreter; (iv) source code for compilation andexecution by a just-in-time compiler, (v) descriptive text for parsing,such as HTML (hypertext markup language) or XML (extensible markuplanguage), etc. As examples only, source code may be written in C, C++,C #, Objective-C, Haskell, Go, SQL, Lisp, Java®, ASP, Perl, Javascript®,HTML5, Ada, ASP (active server pages), Perl, Scala, Erlang, Ruby,Flash®, Visual Basic®, Lua, or Python®.

Communications may include wireless communications described in thepresent disclosure can be conducted in full or partial compliance withIEEE standard 802.11-2012, IEEE standard 802.16-2009, and/or IEEEstandard 802.20-2008. In various implementations, IEEE 802.11-2012 maybe supplemented by draft IEEE standard 802.11 ac, draft IEEE standard802.11 ad, and/or draft IEEE standard 802.11ah. Selected wirelesssystems may include Bluetooth® or Wi-Fi® wireless communication systems.

A processor or module or ‘controller’ may be replaced with the term‘circuit.’ The term ‘module’ may refer to, be part of, or include: anApplication Specific Integrated Circuit (ASIC); a digital, analog, ormixed analog/digital discrete circuit; a digital, analog, or mixedanalog/digital integrated circuit; a combinational logic circuit; afield programmable gate array (FPGA); a processor circuit (shared,dedicated, or group) that executes code; a memory circuit (shared,dedicated, or group) that stores code executed by the processor circuit;other suitable hardware components that provide the describedfunctionality; or a combination of some or all of the above, such as ina system-on-chip.

The foregoing description of the embodiments has been provided forpurposes of illustration and description. It is not intended to beexhaustive or to limit the invention. Individual elements or features ofa particular embodiment are generally not limited to that particularembodiment, but, where applicable, are interchangeable and can be usedin a selected embodiment, even if not specifically shown or described.The same may also be varied in many ways. Such variations are not to beregarded as a departure from the invention, and all such modificationsare intended to be included within the scope of the invention.

The terminology used herein is for the purpose of describing particularexample embodiments only and is not intended to be limiting. As usedherein, the singular forms “a,” “an,” and “the” may be intended toinclude the plural forms as well, unless the context clearly indicatesotherwise.

What is claimed is:
 1. A two-wheeled and/or three-wheeled motorizedvehicle assembly having an automatic speed control system, comprising: amemory system operable to store a predetermined vehicle type; aprocessor system to execute instructions to: access the memory system,determine whether an object is the predetermined vehicle type, recallfrom the accessed memory a specific threshold distance regarding thepredetermined vehicle type, determined whether the object is within thespecific threshold distance of the wheeled motorized vehicle regardingthe determined vehicle type, and generate an alert signal that thedetermined vehicle type is within the specific threshold distance of thewheeled motorized vehicle regarding the determined vehicle type; and analert system configured to provide an alert to a rider of the wheeledmotorized vehicle based on the generated alert signal.
 2. The vehicleassembly of claim 1, further comprising: a sensor operable to sense theobject in real time in an environment exterior to the wheeled motorizedvehicle assembly; and transmitting the sensor signal regarding theobject to the processor system.
 3. The vehicle assembly of claim 1,wherein the sensor includes at least one of a camera or a radar.
 4. Thevehicle assembly of claim 1, further comprising: an input systemoperable to allow the rider to input the specific threshold distance ofthe wheeled motorized vehicle regarding the predetermined vehicle type;wherein the specific threshold distance includes at least a firstspecific threshold distance and a second specific threshold distance:wherein generate the alert signal is based on generating a first alertsignal when the predetermined vehicle type is within the first specificthreshold distance and generating a second alert signal when thepredetermined vehicle type is within the second specific thresholddistance; wherein the first alert signal differs from the second alertsignal.
 5. The vehicle assembly of claim 4, wherein the input system isseparate from the vehicle assembly and is configured to communicate withthe processor system thereon.
 6. The vehicle assembly of claim 4,wherein predetermined vehicle type includes a plurality of predeterminedvehicle types; wherein the memory system is operable to store theplurality of predetermined vehicle types.
 7. The vehicle assembly ofclaim 6, wherein the first specific threshold distance relates to afirst predetermined vehicle type of the plurality of predeterminedvehicle types; wherein the second specific threshold distance relates toa second predetermined vehicle type of the plurality of predeterminedvehicle types.
 8. The vehicle assembly of claim 1, wherein the processorsystem is further configured to execute instructions to receive a sensorsignal and determine a vehicle type from the stored predeterminedvehicle type based on the sensor signal.
 9. A method of operating atwo-wheeled and/or three-wheeled motorized vehicle assembly having anautomatic speed control system, comprising: executing instructions withthe processor system to: determine a vehicle type from a plurality ofpredetermined vehicle types based on a sensor signal, and determinewhether an object is the determined vehicle type and is within aspecific threshold distance of the wheeled motorized vehicle regardingthe determined vehicle type; and alerting a rider of the wheeledmotorized vehicle that the determined vehicle type is within thespecific threshold distance of the wheeled motorized vehicle regardingthe determined vehicle type; wherein the specific target distance isbased on the vehicle type.
 10. The method of claim 9, furthercomprising: sensing, with a sensor, in real time the object in anenvironment exterior to the wheeled motorized vehicle assembly; andtransmitting the sensor signal regarding the object to the processorsystem.
 11. The method of claim 9, wherein the specific thresholddistance of the wheeled motorized vehicle regarding the determinedvehicle type includes at least a first specific threshold distance and asecond specific threshold distance.
 12. The method of claim 9, whereinalerting the rider of the wheeled motorized vehicle that the determinedvehicle type is within the specific threshold distance of the wheeledmotorized vehicle regarding the determined vehicle type includesproviding a first alert when the determined vehicle type is within afirst specific threshold distance and providing a second alert when thedetermined vehicle type is within a second specific threshold distance;wherein the first alert differs from the second alert.
 13. The method ofclaim 9, further comprising: executing further instructions with theprocessor system to receive input from the rider regarding the specificthreshold distance.
 14. The method of claim 13, further comprising:displaying with a display device the selected number of predeterminedvehicle types; wherein the rider inputs the specific threshold distancefor each vehicle type of the selected number of predetermined vehicletypes.
 15. The method of claim 9, further comprising: executing furtherinstructions with the processor system to receive input from the riderregarding eliminating an alert to a rider for at least one vehicle type.16. The method of claim 9, further comprising: executing instructionswith the processor system to recall from a memory the plurality ofpredetermined vehicle types and the specific threshold distance of thewheeled motorized vehicle regarding the determined vehicle type.
 17. Atwo-wheeled and/or three-wheeled motorized vehicle assembly having anautomatic speed control system, comprising: a sensor configured to sensean environment exterior to the wheeled motorized vehicle assembly tocollect information regarding the environment and generate a sensorsignal regarding an object; a memory system operable to store aplurality of predetermined vehicle types operable to be sensed by thesensor; and a processor system configured to execute instructions todetermine: receive the sensor signal; determine a vehicle type based onthe sensor signal of the selected number of predetermined vehicle types,evaluate a specific target distance based on each vehicle type of theselected number of predetermined vehicle types, determine whether aspecific target distance is present between the wheeled motorizedvehicle and the object based on the determined vehicle type and theevaluated specific target distance, and output an alert signal that thepredetermined vehicle type is within the specific target distance of thewheeled motorized vehicle regarding the determined vehicle type; and analert system to alert a rider of the wheeled motorized vehicle based onthe output alert signal.
 18. The vehicle assembly of claim 17, whereinthe processor system is configured to execute further instructions tocontrol the wheeled motorized vehicle assembly to achieve or maintainthe specific target distance at least by automatically altering a speedof the wheeled motorized vehicle assembly.
 19. The vehicle assembly ofclaim 17, wherein the sensor includes a first sensor and a secondsensor; wherein each of the first sensor and the second sensor includesat least one of a radar or a camera; wherein at least one of the firstsensor or the second sensor senses the environment in real time.
 20. Thevehicle assembly of claim 17, further comprising: a user input to inputa user selected specific target distance for evaluation by the processorsystem; wherein the user is operable to input a plurality of userselected specific target distances including at least one user selectedspecific target distance for each vehicle type of the plurality ofpredetermined vehicle types.